Remnant and Runeterra: A Tale of Two Worlds
by Eccentric-Okami-Rose
Summary: When the Aspect of Twilight discovers the planet of Remnant, she succumbs to her playful nature to meddle with reality. Without much thought, she opens a portal and transports Remnant to her home-planet of Runeterra. As the two worlds merge, the Star Forger Aurelion Sol and Zoe watch in anticipation of the ensuing chaos to come. The two universes of League of Legends and RWBY meet!
1. Instigation of a Crossover

**Chapter 1** – Instigation of a Crossover

The universe stretches across lengths that are incomprehensible to most sentient beings. They look up from the planet they reside on and stare in wonder at what they think about but cannot see with their own naked eyes. The best you can hope for is to glimpse at a few stars that are eons away, and the sun, planets and moons of your respective solar system. Are there deities or gods out there that keep watch over the ever expanding universe? Some are believers and others were not. This was no different in the case of the planet known as Runeterra: literally meaning "Magic Earth". Few of its inhabitants had any clue of what space contained. Some of the people had heard and subsequently spread rumours about idolised or dreaded celestial higher powers. The Wandering Caretaker, known as Bard, is believed to be the restorer of the universe's very equilibrium, and would come to any planet whenever its stability was under threat. A mountain on Runeterra had been named after The Wandering Caretaker: "Bard Mountain". Few testimonies exist of seeing Bard in person and fewer still have been verified, but Bard still roams the world seeking no glory: only harmony, irrespective of whether or not his work is recognised and praised.

* * *

On the other side of the spectrum however is another cosmic entity of power. The celestial creator and forger of stars: Aurelion Sol was revered but feared by many who knew his name. A lot of individuals believed that he was the creator of all things and could snap his finger to obliterate entire worlds in a heartbeat. A select few of ignorance and hubris believe that he was not as great as he claimed to be. Sceptics believe that he is merely a figment of primitive thinkers who invented the idea of a star dragon to explain how the universe came into existence.  
In the region of Targon however, its citizens knew better. The Targonians had seen the putative Star Forger with their own eyes.  
Aurelion Sol had travelled across the universe, seeing many different planets with emerging or moderately developed life forms. No one had impressed him. He was superior to every other creature he had so far encountered. But as much as he hated to admit it, he was not infallible.  
In an era long ago, the cunning and crafty Targonians adopted a façade of worship. They created a crown for Aurelion Sol to wear on his head as a sign of might and sovereignty. But the crown turned out to be a trap. As Aurelion Sol donned the glittering headwear, it bound to his head and possessed unholy magic that forced Aurelion Sol into servitude. Every time he disobeyed an order from the Targonians, one of his precious stars would be destroyed. To Aurelion Sol, stars were like what children are to parents. Suffice to say, Aurelion Sol has been on a leash for a lot of his time next to Runeterra and has held an ongoing hatred of the Targonians in his clenched fists.

* * *

But one day, he was hanging out near the planet, not right next to it. Juggling three planets sized fireballs in his hands, he was bored. He wanted action, to see something that had never happened before. Whilst it was true that he had not explored all the corners of space, he was almost positive that the odds of finding anything even remotely close to his level of power was infinitesimally small.  
The Star Forger began to doze. He dreamed about a vision that he had seen multiple times whilst asleep. It was a nightmare that horrified him to no end. Even if it was merely a dream, the concept still made his ethereal skin crawl: the Dark Stars; Stars that were not of his own making. Ones that were enveloped in the predicate of total annihilation and destruction. The Dark Stars had their own creators. In his dreams, Aurelion Sol cowered at their presence. He knew that they were not real but Aurelion Sol had to keep telling himself this to keep his fear under wraps.

* * *

Suddenly, a hole was torn open in space. The sound was explosive and highly distressing. He was startled. He turned around and watched as it grew bigger and bigger. 'Oh no. NO!' he cried out with his booming deep voice. The rift continued to expand outwards. It couldn't be, could it…? Not a black hole? Not a Dark Star!? It grew and grew. Aurelion Sol wanted to stop it but dared not touch it. He looked around to see what he could use to obliterate this potential threat. He could use Runeterra to clog the hole in reality, but even he was not that cruel to destroy an entire planet and civilisation for this. Aurelion Sol then looked down as his fireballs that he had been juggling. He stuffed them into his mouth, took a deep breath and then roared in the direction of the space aperture. Humongous flames erupted from his lips and they surged towards the hole. Before the flames could reach it, a giant shield popped up, like a bubble and deflected the flames. They scattered and the bubble popped. Panicking, Aurelion Sol had no choice, he had to intervene before the rift became too big for him to contain. No longer caring about his own safety, he flew towards the hole and outstretched his arms to pry the hole shut. He yelled a battle cry. It was now or never. Aurelion Sol grabbed the edges of the rift. To his surprise, the sensation of grabbing the wormhole tickled his hands. He lurched backwards. 'No…' he groaned. He braced himself for the oncoming destruction and closed his eyes. It was going to happen any second. Three. Two. One. The cavity made an abrupt noise that sounded like an orchestra of fairies, and then it stopped growing.

* * *

A planet that was about the same size as Runeterra slowly emerged from the aperture. Aurelion Sol opened his eyes and saw the planet. He was… disappointed. He almost felt ashamed with himself for panicking over something as innocuous as a planet. It certainly looked harmless. Planets were nothing more than inadvertent by-products of the immense gravity of stars. They did not have the meticulous chiselled perfection of Aurelion Sol's masterpieces. It took about ten seconds for the planet to exit the hole entirely. It moved at a very slow pace in the general direction of Runeterra. Aurelion Sol was about to go and inspect the planet, but realised that a moon was also leaving the rift. It was shattered. A quarter of the moon's surface area had been blown off into tiny pieces by something and floated limply above its original body. As the moon finally exited the hole, it closed. Aurelion Sol was perplexed. Why had this planet and moon suddenly come through some sort of wormhole? But before he had time to think deeply about the situation, he heard a childish giggle stemming from somewhere near his tail. It was then that Aurelion Sol realised what was going on. 'Oh… right…' he said, rolling his eyes.

Aurelion Sol turned around to see a little girl with extremely long hair of orange, purple and pink. She looked like she was only ten years old at most, but had, in reality, lived for hundreds of years. She had just never matured and decided she didn't want to grow up.  
'Hey! I was petting your tail!' she said.

'I've already told you literally a thousand times that I am not your mutt. You will never be on the same level as me.'

'Aww, meanie.' said the little girl, putting on a pouting face.

'Ugh, never mind.' Aurelion Sol groaned. 'If it pleases your immature proclivities that you should have grown out of centuries ago, I grant you an evanescent moment of time to cuddle my tail as though it is a soft toy that you have in bed with you.'

'I knew you'd see it my way Space Dragon. You just can't deny someone as cute as me pleasures.' she winked.

'I find the sound of humans moaning in despair cuter than you.'

'Tell yourself lies space dragon, but you know that I'm the most adorable thing in this galaxy.'

'Never mind…'

'If you behave Star Dragon, I might give you some of my chocolate moon cakes to you.'

'I am not interested in food that is typically consumed by humans.'

'You've never tried them for yourself.'

'I know, and I'm still not interested.'

'But how can you know if they're any good if you've never eaten or even smelt them?' the girl said as though she was trying to sound clever.

'Sugar, butter and cocoa are not healthy. That is true for both you and me.'

'But in small quantities it can't hurt.'

'Whatever. I digress from this pointless topic. Let me ask you something Zoe: why have you brought this planet and moon here?'

Zoe's eyes widen with excitement. She now looked like she was bursting with excitement to tell Aurelion Sol about it. 'Well, you see Space Dragon, you know how I love breaking reality and experimenting with the very fabric of the universe.'

'I do, and I disapprove.'

'So I took a portal to another galaxy and discovered this planet and moon. I'm not entirely sure why, but I was immediately drawn to this planet's atmosphere. It has life just like Runeterra does. So I decided to test the extent of my ability to reshape reality and I created a giant portal and brought it here.'

'I see…' muttered Aurelion Sol. He moved towards the planet to inspect it. It was emitting very similar levels of energy to Runeterra and was almost the exact same size.

'I went down to its surface and scouted about.' said Zoe eagerly. 'I witnessed a battle as some sort of battle inside a floating arena. Kids were fighting each other in some sort of tournament styled event with really cool weapons that could transform between melee and ranged. They were so cool I tell you! So, so, SO COOL!'

'I always figured that your standards of human life were quite high. I guess I figured wrong if you're impressed by mortal inventions that would probably be quite commonplace in Piltover.'

'You're so cocky Space Dragon.' Zoe said in a frustrated tone. 'It was just really cool to see kids fighting each other! They have so much more technique than anyone else on Runeterra. I really liked this girl with a scythe that was twice the size of her. It could turn into a sniper rifle of sorts, and she wore a red cloak with a hood. She was cute too.'

'I'll take your word for it with no real engrossment.' said Aurelion Sol. He looked at the moon this time. 'Did you destroy that?' he said, pointing at it.

'Oh, no that wasn't me! It was already shattered when I found it.'

'Would you mind also telling me how you managed to transport the planet here without destroying all life forms by taking the planet away from its sun?'

'I put a giant bubble around it to keep the temperature as it was.'

Aurelion Sol closed his eyes and thought about what Zoe had managed to do. He was admittedly very impressed that the Aspect of the Twilight could do something as ludicrous as this.

Zoe was able to read his facial expression. 'You're impressed with me, aren't you?' she said joyfully.

'What? Of course not. I could've done that in one breath.'

'But if I'm so _inferior_ to you, then the fact that I've managed to do this speaks numbers about my power, doesn't it arrogant Space Dragon?'

Aurelion Sol sighed. 'Are you expecting a round of applause?' he said mockingly.

'Well yeah! This is such a huge feet for me!'

With a bored look in his eyes, Aurelion Sol gave a slow, sarcastic clap.

'You're such a meanie!' Zoe moaned.

'Hardly. I just don't over or under-praise anything.'

It was Zoe's turn to sigh. 'It's called "Remnant" by the way.' she said.

'What is?' Aurelion Sol asked.

'The planet. It's called "Remnant".'

'Are you sure that's not the name of the moon?'

'No, I'm sure. I heard the natives calling it that. Can you believe that they somehow speak the same language as the majority of people on Runeterra?'

'I absolutely cannot believe that nonsense.' snorted Aurelion Sol. 'This is a different planet from a different galaxy altogether. How can they possibly speak the same language?'

'They do! I heard it for myself!' Zoe protested.

'Again, I'll take your unverified word as gospel. What do you plan to do with this planet anyway?'

'Well, you see Space Dragon, I thought to myself "What if these two worlds collided with each other?" What do you think would happen if we merged them together and see how each respective world reacts to the other, since they speak the same language?'

'Unity. Harmony. Chaos. War. Who knows? I'm sure Bard will have a lot of work to do if this happens.'

'Then let's do it! C'mon it'll be fun. I could see that you were bored before I left this galaxy.'

'You do realise that when the planets merge together, you will mess with gravity to the point where it might be too heavy for anyone to even do anything. Also with two moons this'll have a tremendous effect on the tides of both planets.'

'Pfft, this is me you're talking about Space Dragon! I've already thought of that. I can bend reality so that this won't be an issue.'

'Okay… and how exactly are you going to merge them together?'

'We bend the surface area of both planets so that they become two halves of a sphere. I'll do it now. Just watch!'

* * *

Zoe clapped her hands together and flew over to the two planets. She used her hands as though she were giving directions to a garrison of soldiers. The two planets literally broke apart and opened to expose the molten cores at the centre. Fortunately for the inhabitants of both planets, the split had occurred in water and not in land where anyone was living. Zoe commanded the two halves to come together. A flash of blinding white light burst from the two planets as they collided. Aurelion Sol squinted and then opened his eyes wide. She had done it.  
The Runeterra he knew was now twice as large and had two moons orbiting it.

'Now all we have to do is watch and see what happens. I bet you anything this is going to be super entertaining.' squealed Zoe.

'You know, for once in my lifetime I can agree with you Zoe.' said Aurelion Sol. He gave a faint smile.

'Yes, oh YES! The arrogant Space Dragon is pleased with me!' She jumped up and down, punching the empty matter with her fists.

'Don't get used to it though. Remember that I don't give out compliments often.'

'I can appreciate one though.' Zoe giggled. 'We should get some popcorn to enjoy the show.'

'Once again I must remind you that I don't eat human food. You can have some if you want, but I will refrain from it.'

'Suit yourself Space Dragon.' said Zoe. She left Aurelion Sol's side and went down to the newly formed planet, presumably to get some popcorn.

* * *

Aurelion Sol looked at Zoe's creation. Maybe it should have a new name. A portmanteau of the two planets' names. "Runenant" "Remterra". They sounded silly in his head.  
With nothing left to do but just watch, he moved in slightly closer so he could have a better view of the planet. Maybe he would shrink himself slightly so that he could fly across its skies, but for now he would remain above its stratosphere.  
He chuckled to himself. 'Well… this should be… _interesting_.'

* * *

 _To all newcomers to my fanfiction who have just finished this first chapter, I welcome you with open arms. If you like what you've read so far, please feel free to go on to the next chapters. I appreciate all constructive feedback and would love to hear what you have to say._

 _Just to let you readers know, my publishing schedule is very hit and miss. I started writing this fanfiction in late June 2018 and had the free time of summer to write and publish chapters rather frequently. I had the inspiration to write this fanfiction back in April 2017, but I never got around to it until one year and two months later.  
_

 _Currently, I am at university, where I study philosophy and creative writing: two heavily essay based subjects and a social life to keep up with. Because I am writing so much on my course, I have a lot less time to work on this fanfiction. Also, because of the amount I am writing, it can be draining at times and my motivation to write new chapters can be very low when they require me to do more of the same stuff I do during my daily studies. Each chapter requires a lot of research, time, effort and proof-reading to be produced, and I don't want to publish low-quality chapters just for the sakes of maintaining an audience. Quality over quantity it is I'm afraid. (Even then, I still miss things when proof-reading it multiple times)  
_ _If you notice a decline in quality of the chapters later down the line, it's probably because I'm struggling to write them whilst at university. Hopefully this will not happen though. Fingers crossed..._

 _What I will say though is that I will try my best to write decent chapters and publish as frequently as I can without compromising my studies and university life. This fanfiction is long and ongoing, so I won't expect it to end for a long time. You have a lot to look forward to if you choose to stick around. Every major region in both Remnant and Runeterra will be explored at some point, and out of the 144 champions there currently are in League of Legends, there are only a few that I currently have no plans for using, but five of these six could be squeezed in at some point. Changes in lore will be taken into account and new champions will be considered.  
_

 _If you're not interested in staying, no worries. If you are, thank you very much and I hope you enjoy the story: I just ask that you try and be patient with me and my infrequent rate of publishing._

 _Happy reading and take care!_


	2. A New Situation

**Chapter 2** – A New Situation

General James Ironwood was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back on his Atlesian Airship. He wore a smart white overcoat, grey undercoat, black jumper, a red tie and smart white trousers. Ironwood was also regarded as being quite handsome, with neat black hair, a few stylish white streaks at the side and well-built body. Ironwood was a tough man who was sometimes hard to reason with, but he always had the best intentions in mind. He was the commander and chief of the kingdom of Atlas: one of, if not _the_ , most advanced Kingdoms in Remnant after all.

* * *

Located in the frigid north of the continent of Solitas, Atlas had been originally founded under the name of "Mantle", using the mountainous region's natural barriers to protect the new civilisation from the creatures of Grimm: eldritch abominations with no soul or aura of their own. Climate and harsh conditions made it hard for settlers to call Mantle their new home and for the population to grow, but the innovative minds of the original inhabitants used their intellect to develop technology far more advanced than that of the other three Kingdoms of Mistral, Vale and Vacuo. They also utilised something known as "dust": a versatile element with a lot of naturally occurring energy. There are variations on the type of dust acquirable, such as there being different elemental forms. Dust can either come in the physical form of crystals or powder and could be used as an energy propellant or even weaponry when handled correctly.

Mantle formed an alliance with Mistral on the grounds of trade and power. The Kingdom of Vale repudiated against the practices and policies of Mantle, such as slavery and abuse towards its citizens. The "Great War" began following an outbreak of a riot in the region of Sanus, which was shared by the Mistral/Mantle alliance and Vale at the time. It's not known who provoked the other, but the war started and the tumult began.

The Kingdom of Vacuo remained ambivalent during the initial stages of the war, but later allied with Vale after realising that if Vale fell to Mantle and Mistral, no one and nothing could stop them from taking over the world and imposing their ideologies and ways of life on all other regions and continents: including Vacuo. Soon, Vacuo partnered up with Vale and fought alongside them. Ten years passed with no end in sight; that is until after a ferocious battle in Vacuo soil, where Mistral forces were brutally defeated. It was at that point when the respective generals and forces were brought together on the Island of Vytal. A peace treaty was signed, land was distributed to the four kingdoms and new Huntsmen and Huntresses academies were set up to train young warriors to uphold peace and equanimity after the Great War had finally come to an end from then on.

* * *

The Kingdom of Mantle established its own academy, under the name of "Atlas Academy". Unlike the other four Kingdoms, the new Kingdom of Atlas combined its military, armed forces, education and Huntsmen academy, and even the societal side of the Kingdom into one. The aftermath of the Great also saw the establishment of the Schnee Dust Company, founded by Nicholas Schnee. The company became the largest producer and manipulator of dust in all of Remnant, but was also controversial for its treatment of employees and business practices.

It was perhaps for these reasons that Atlas's academy remained the most powerful in Remnant. However a good army needs a commander, and you could not find a more committed man to military swagger than General Ironwood.  
Right now, he had brought his armed forces to Beacon Academy in the Kingdom of Vale, who were currently hosting the Vytal Festival Tournament: a regulated and controlled environment, inside the remarkable Amity Colosseum, where students who were aspiring huntsmen and huntresses from academies across Remnant competed in fights to claim victory and pride for their kingdoms. It was an event held every two years as a homage to the peace treaty formed after the Great War.  
Besides the thrills and excitement that came with the fights, the Vytal Festival also brought all the Kingdoms together for unity to celebrate peace and cultural diversity. It didn't matter who you were; a professor, a teacher, a student, a citizen or even a pet – everyone could always look forward to the Vytal Festival.

* * *

Ironwood continued pacing up and down the cockpit of his personal airship. He was contemplating a discussion he had had with the headmaster of Beacon Academy: Professor Ozpin.  
It was hard for _anyone_ to deny it was almost impossible to not respect Professor Ozpin. Despite no longer being middle-aged, he remained as prestigious as could possibly be: both in combat and in words. The man was charismatic, empathetic, brave and an all-around a pleasant man with a heart bigger than Ironwood's entire military. However, General Ironwood still saw one flaw in Ozpin that he could not shake off. Ozpin was very much a pacifist and would only open fire is conflict was imminent. Ironwood by contrast took the stance that you must be pre-emptively ready for an attack.

"So, what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas?" said Ozpin. "Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival."

"Well you know how much I love Vale this time of year." He replied, politely accepting a mug of hot cocoa that Ozpin handed him. "Besides, with you hosting, I thought this might be a good opportunity to catch up."

"I can certainly appreciate quality time between friends. However… the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned."

"Well… concern _is_ what brought them here."

"And I understand that travel between kingdoms has become increasingly difficult."

"Oz… you and I both know why I brought those men."  
Ozpin took a sip of his hot cocoa and sighed. "We are in a time of peace. Shows like this are just going to give off the wrong impression."

"But if what Qrow said is true then -"

"If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it tactfully. It's the Vytal Festival; a time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

"I'm just being cautious." Ironwood insisted frustratingly.

"As am I, which is why we will continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can."

"Believe me, I am." said Ironwood solemnly. He began to walk away from Ozpin's desk and leave his office. Before he exited via the lift however, he turned his head around and said one last thing to Ozpin. "But ask yourself this: Do you honestly believe your children… can win a war?"

Once the lift doors closed and Ironwood was out of earshot, Ozpin said quietly to no one in particular: "I hope they never have to…"

* * *

Ironwood had confronted Ozpin on a few more occasions since first meeting him upon arrival at Beacon Academy. He understood that Ozpin did not want to elicit anxiety and panic amongst the people, but he could not comprehend why he seemed so nonchalant. He felt bad for thinking this way, but Ironwood sometimes thought about how the original settlers in Vacuo had been very inattentive to the dangers they were potentially in with the harsh environment and possibility for the creatures of Grimm to attack whilst they were unprepared. Ozpin wasn't careless, but he often gave the impression that he didn't treat the situation as seriously as he should.

Some very notable things had happened post and prior to Ironwood's first meeting with Ozpin. One of Ozpin's students: Ruby Rose had an encounter with the nefarious crime lord Roman Torchwick, as well as a lady whose face no one had seen. They were robbing a dust shop in Vale. One of the henchmen attempted to rob Ruby, only to discover the Ruby was a formidable huntress and was soon after defeated. One of the teachers at Beacon: Professor Glynda Goodwitch had also witnessed the scene. Another dust shop had been attacked prior the Vytal Festival beginning.

Another one of Ozpin's students: Blake Belladonna also encountered Torchwick, who was this time executing an ambitious heist of massive shipping containers of dust in cargo aircraft, in affiliation with the White Fang: a terrorist organisation group who were activists for civil rights for the Faunus (a separate race of beings from humans whom were distinguishable from having animal body parts). Blake, along with the assistance of a competitor from Haven Academy: Sun Wukong, Ruby Rose and Penny Polendina (the first ever synthetic person capable of producing an aura, who was created by General Ironwood himself) managed to stop the robbery. The event however naturally raised concern over what the White Fang were up to and what enemies of peace were planning.  
During the Beacon Dance, an unidentified individual infiltrated the Cross Continental Transmit System located in Beacon - one of the four across the whole of Remnant - presumably to steal data.

Most worryingly of all however, during a field trip to the south east of Vale to an abandoned city, led by Dr Oobleck and accompanied by team RWBY, the group discovered an underground network with express trains that were being operated by Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. A train, loaded with bombs in separate compartments ran along the tracks towards central Vale, blowing up holes along the way to let the creatures of Grimm into the city from the south east.  
Naturally, these infractions had further justified Ironwood's reasoning to keep his air fleet nearby. It frustrated Ironwood how Ozpin appeared to be unassuming of the idea that enemies of peace could be working undercover: inconspicuously through espionage.

Ironwood suddenly realised that he had been pacing back and forth for minutes continuously. His legs were sore and he felt dizzy. He sat down, picked up his scroll and flicked through his list of contacts. Ironwood wasn't in the mood for reading all the paperwork he had accumulated over the last few weeks and was unsure of what to do. With no action outside the fights and no immediate signs of danger, he had very little to do. Without thinking too much about it, he called Goodwitch. After five seconds, she responded.

'Hello James.' she said.

'Hey Glynda. Did Oz by any chance talk to you about the conversation he and I had after you left his office?'

'No, but I can deduce that you two were talking about your pretentious fleet that is floating above Beacon.'

'It's not pretentious, it's practical Glynda.'  
Goodwitch sighed. 'James, I know that your heart is in the right place, but I really do question why this is your instinctive and only approach to a situation where defence is needed.'

'It's because I am being precautious. Ozpin says that we're in a time of peace, but no one can be certain there isn't some major conspiracy or plot currently in the works. We're investigating some of the recent incidents and maybe there isn't anything yet that calls for my fleet, it's better to be safe than sorry.'

'I just think that having a fleet here is intimidating to the people. I get that it's supposed to be deterrent for criminal activity and help the citizens feel safe, but it can also unintentionally insinuate that there _is_ a major threat at large. We want to keep everyone's morale high and not low.'

'There are ups and downs to my military presence Glynda, but I firmly believe that this is ultimately for the better.'

'I'm still not sure that I agree with you entirely James, but I won't make any more of a fuss about it.'

'Yes. I digress too. Anyway, that was not the reason I called.'

'Oh, what did you want then James?' Goodwitch asked, now sounding curious.'

'Well I do agree with Ozpin to a certain extent, and even I have to admit that there is very little to do when my forces are inactive. I was literally pacing around for minutes on end without realising it in the office in my airship. Would you perhaps… like to go to into town for a coffee or something else? Maybe get some fresh air or even something to eat as well?'

'Hmm.' Goodwitch muttered. 'I guess I don't see why not.'

'Ah, that would be lovely.' Ironwood said with a smile on his face.

'It would be indeed.' Goodwitch replied. Although Ironwood couldn't see it, his smile was reciprocated.

'Why don't we meet by the Crow Bar and decide where to go from there.'

'It sounds like a plan.'

'Great. So I'll see you in an hour or so?'

'Yes, see you in a bit James.'

'You too Glynda.'  
Ironwood put down his scroll. He remembered dancing with Goodwitch at the Beacon Dance. It was a bit hard to tell, based on the circumstances that the two of them were in, but Ironwood and Goodwitch may have displayed moderate romance towards each other without really knowing it.

Ironwood changed his uniform and sprayed some cologne on his neck to spruce himself up a little bit. He then combed his hair and grabbed his wallet before heading to a small airship to take him to the ground. Before he left however, his scroll began to vibrate. He answered it and heard Goodwitch's voice on the other side.  
'James, there's been a change of plans. We need to head to Ozpin's office as soon as possible.'

'Glynda, what's wrong. You sound troubled.'

'I'm not troubled yet, but I've just heard from Ozpin, and he said that we need to go to his office and discuss something with him.'

'Any idea what's going on? Maybe we need to take action now.'

'No General, let's just hear what needs to be said. Oh, and Ozpin also told us that Qrow is back.'

'What? Qrow's back?'

'Yes…' Goodwitch said unsmilingly.

'Ugh…' Ironwood groaned. 'I'll be there. I won't take more than ten minutes.'

* * *

Ironwood entered the lift that took him up to Ozpin's office. What could be going on? Nothing had been heard from Qrow for weeks. Ironwood was about to find out what.  
The elevator doors opened and Ironwood stepped out. Goodwitch and Qrow were already here. To his mild surprise, Winter Schnee was also here: one of Ironwood's huntresses operating inside the Atlesian Military. She was pompous, proud, but an exceptional huntress with an unfaltering subservient loyalty to the Kingdom of Atlas and General Ironwood.

'Miss Schnee.' Ironwood said startled. 'I almost forgot that you were coming here.'

'That's a bit disheartening General Sir, since we are on very good terms and I said that I had business with you and Professor Ozpin.' she said with discontent in her eyes.

'You have my apologies. Now then, Ozpin, you sent for me?'

'I certainly did.' he replied. Ozpin got up from his desk and stood with the other huntsmen and huntresses in the room.  
'Very well.' said Ironwood. 'And you…' he looked disdainfully as Qrow.

Qrow was a bibulous and contemptuous huntsman with almost unrivalled combat prowess, but showed insolence where it was not due or appropriate.  
'Me?' Qrow responded with a stutter. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a flask and proceeded to drink. 'Oh hoho, nice to see you again Jim.'

'You've been out of contact for weeks! You can't just go dark like that in the field? Where have been and what have you been doing?'

'I'm not one of your special operatives Jimmy.' he responded scornfully.

'"General!"' Winter corrected him.

'Whatever. Political correctness isn't the issue right now ice queen.'

Winter clenched her fists in spite. 'You dare call me that again!'

'Oh yes I do dare _Ice Queen_.'

'Everyone, let's keep a cool head.' Ozpin said calmly. 'Okay then. Qrow. Please tell us why you're here.'

'As we discussed weeks ago, I go off and try and get intel on the enemy, and I'm telling you that our enemy is right here.'

'Ozpin sat back down in his chair and Ironwood perched himself on Ozpin's desk. 'We already know that.' he said blankly.

'You know? Oh you know.' said Qrow, becoming irritated. Well thank goodness I'm out there risking my life to keep you all informed!'

'Qrow -' Ironwood began.

'Communication's a two way street, pal.' Qrow took his scroll out of his pocket. 'You see this? That's the send button.' he spat.

'They had reason to assume you'd been compromised.' Winter intervened.

'And I have reason to assume you don't need to be here. Seriously, who invited her?' he said, turning to face the others.'

'I did.' said Ironwood.

'Yet you forgot she was coming? What a great mind you are.'

'Winter,' said Ironwood. 'leave us for now. I'll talk to you later.'

'But sir…'

'Winter, leave.' he demanded.

Winter hesitated before saluting Ironwood. 'Yes sir.' She marched to the lift and promptly exited. Qrow gave her a wink, to which Winter gave a glare in exchange.

'Go on Qrow.' said Ozpin. 'You were about to tell us more.'

'Yes I was. You see, the infiltrator you had in the Cross Continental Transmit System isn't just another pawn. They're the ones responsible for Autumn's condition.

'What?' Goodwitch said, startled.

Qrow took another swig from his flask before continuing. 'Despite what the world thinks, we're not just teachers or generals or headmasters. The people in this room, the leaders of the two other academies, we're the ones that keep the world safe from the evils no one even knows about. It's why we hide behind closed doors, why we work in the shadows.' Qrow walked right up to Ironwood. They could smell each other's breaths. 'So you tell me James, when you brought your army to Vale, did you think you were being discreet, or did you just not give a damn?'

Ironwood stared into Qrow's eyes. 'Discreet wasn't working.' he said simply. He placed his scroll on Ozpin's desk. A blue hologram appeared of Beacon Academy and Ironwood's fleet. 'I'm here because this is what was necessary.' he explained as he walked up to the hologram.

'You're here because Ozpin wanted you here!' Qrow replied loudly. 'He made you a part of this inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us.'

'And I'm grateful.'

'Oh well, you've got a real funny way of showing it.'

'The people of Vale needed someone to protect them, someone who would act. When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe, and our enemies will feel our strength.'

Qrow began laughing. 'You-you think they're scared of your little ships? I've been out there and I've seen the things she's made and let me tell you… they are fear.'

'And fear will bring the Grimm' Ozpin added, who stood up once again. 'A guardian is a symbol of comfort. But an army is a symbol of conflict. There's an energy in the air now, a question in the back of everyone's minds: "If this is the size of our defences, what is it we're expecting to fight?'

Ironwood sighed and picked up his scroll. 'So then, what would you suggest we do?'

'I'd suggest we find our guardian.' Ozpin answered in a poetic manner.

* * *

'Now then,' Qrow spoke once again, clearing his throat. 'aside from discovering that there's a threat right under of noses, I also discovered something that happened only yesterday.'

'What might that be?' said Ozpin, drinking his hot cocoa once more.

'Something supernatural I dare say.' Qrow uttered before gulping from his flask a third time. 'Something that might be completely unrelated to whatever's going on here, but potentially something that _is_. Either way, this issue requires IMMEDIATE attention. Something's happened to the continents. Well more specifically, something happened in Western Sanus, Eastern and Central Anima, and Menagerie. Some very, _very_ strange seismic activity occurred. It only lasted for about three minutes reports say, but giant earthquakes transpired. They came without _any_ warning. Citizens from Vacuo and Mistral had to immediately be evacuated and the Faunus of Menagerie suffered greatly. Miraculously, the wreckage hasn't been too large and the Cross Continental Transmit Systems from both Vacuo and Haven managed to not fall down, but they were disabled and still haven't been fixed yet. That's why we've heard no reports from them. Meanwhile, here at the furthest points away from the seismic activity, you haven't felt a thing. I was there and I felt the ground shake before me. I could barely stand, it was tremendous.'

'You can barely stand up at all most of the time with your drinking problem.' said Ironwood. 'Maybe it wasn't that bad, but you being drunk amplified the effects for you tenfold.'

'You're about as funny as the creatures of Grimm, James. What reason do I have to lie to you? We're all allies here. You and I may not be on the best speaking terms Jim, but I can confirm that these earthquakes were real and they were far more severe than anything that has even happened before in history!'

'Earthquakes aren't commonplace in Remnant, I must say.' said Ozpin.

'Exactly!' Qrow yelled. 'And this is just the beginning I tell you. There's been some very unexplainable things. First thing to note is that there were no major tsunamis, despite the earthquakes being most prevalent in the seas between Anima, Menagerie and Western Sanus. The size of the earthquake doesn't correspond at all to the lack of tsunamis. They should've been huge; they should have wiped out so many towns and villages, but the earthquakes were the only natural disasters that happened. Furthermore, did anyone notice last night now there were TWO moons in the sky?! One was our normal moon that's been shattered at one end for as long as history knows about it, and another just _appeared_ that was completely whole. That's more reason for the tides to be shaky, but still nothing has come of it. And wait, it gets more interesting!' he said before anyone could interrupt him. 'The people in Menagerie and Anima claim that while the earthquakes were wreaking havoc, the sun set almost five hours earlier than it should've. The poor civilians were staggering around in the dark as they were being shaken like soda in a tin can. The question is: how do we explain that?'

'Based on what you're telling me so Qrow, this seems like an impossibility.' Ozpin observed.

'Oz, I said it just a few moments ago: we're allies and I have _no_ reason to lie to you!'

'I know, I know Qrow. Please calm down.' said Ozpin, gesturing with both of his hands. 'I'm not suggesting that you are trying to be deceitful. I'm just thinking about the science behind this.'

'Professor Ozpin, I noticed yesterday that the sun didn't set until a much later time.' Goodwitch put forward.

'Well then this next statement is going to blow your mind Oz. When investigators flew out to sea to inspect what was going on, they found that when trying to get from one continent to another, the land they were searching for was completely gone!'

'Gone?' Goodwitch asked. 'What do you mean by…"Gone"?'

'When the pilots took off from Mistral to fly over seas to go to Vacuo, they found that it wasn't where the coordinates are meant to be. Instead, they found an entirely _new_ piece of land: one which we've never seen before. I stayed around long to hear for myself what was being reported, and it seems that this new land already has civilisation of its own. It had buildings and everything. A piece of land just appears out of nowhere with society already on it and it's not part of any of the four kingdoms., yet travelling across the continents via Sanus takes the exact same time as is normal, but the sun is moving much slower than normal. I may be a heavy drinker, but I know what I heard was true. Something fishy is going on. So what are your thoughts?'

No one said anything for almost twenty seconds.

'It's shocking, I know, but we _need_ to take action or at least make some directives.

'Qrow, do you have any idea how big this newly discovered land is?'

'No idea Oz. The investigators dared not fly over it in case the people there were hostile and may not have taken lightly to aircraft flying over them.'

'With our limited understanding of this paranormal activity, it might have something to do with Remnant itself. If it's apparently taking longer to go from daytime to night-time, it might imply a few things, for reasons that we don't know at the moment.'

'What might those explanations be Professor Ozpin?' Goodwitch enquired.

'Two things stand out from the top of my head. One might be that the sun is moving slower, _or_ this very planet is moving slower.'

'What about the land that seemingly popped up out of nowhere, and what about the second moon that seems to have had no real effect on the seas.' Ironwood commented.

'It may sound crazy, but this whole issue sounds ludicrous as it is. What is the planet has somehow grown in size and gotten bigger?'  
'But then we would feel the effects of gravity. Everything would feel much heavier.' Goodwitch pointed out. 'Plus, how do we account for this new land having civilisation on it? Can a new world literally just appear as we've described?'

'There are too many questions and not enough answers right now.' said Ozpin. 'We should probably leave it to the Kingdoms that have been affected by it and focus on our own affairs right now.'

'Ozpin, if I may.' said Ironwood. 'We may have too many questions as you say and not enough answers, but some questions might need to be tackled immediately as Qrow said. Could this have been caused by enemies of peace, because this seems far too unorthodox to be natural? If so then this whole supernatural phenomena could be linked with whatever is going on here. And if they are enemies of peace, what kind of power have they gotten hold of to be able to engineer something as unbelievable as making the planet bigger?'

'We can conjecture, but we can't make assumptions just yet General.' Ozpin replied. 'With any luck, the Cross Continental Transmit System will be back online soon if the damage dealt by the earthquakes wasn't too severe. Then we can contact the other kingdoms and we can hear the full story, as well as offer a hand if they need one. Maybe your fleet and military would be more useful nearer the east and west where aid is needed General.'

'I was just about to suggest that Oz.' said Qrow. 'You're not very active here at the moment, are you Jim? Like Oz said, you can make yourself useful somewhere else instead of keeping redundant armed forces here.'

Ironwood grimaced at Qrow. 'I really don't like you.' he said plainly.

'I'm not too big on you myself, but you know that I'm right. If that ugly fleet were mine, I'd be on my way over to West Sanus or Mistral right _now_.'

'Qrow, I insist that we don't make any moves just yet. We don't even know which Kingdom is in more need of assistance. Vacuo could be doing fine and Mistral might need more of a helping hand or vice versa.'

Qrow was about to protest, but instead said nothing more.

'What now then Professor Ozpin?' Goodwitch asked.

'Right now, we rest and make sure that nothing else happens here during the Vytal Festival. We have an international pact with other Kingdoms, but right now we all need to focus on our own affairs until communication is put right. Thank you for all being here, and thank you Qrow for informing us on this crucial news.' Ozpin concluded.

Ironwood shook hands with Ozpin before leaving. He, Goodwitch and Qrow then strolled towards the lift and disappeared from view as it closed.

Ozpin turned around to look out the window. The sun was still shining brightly. The view of the Beacon courtyard never failed to put a smile on his face. He looked down and noticed there were two items on the horizontal clock hand on the outside.

* * *

One was a single piece of popcorn. The other looked like a very long, fine strand of hair. It was orange at one end, pink in the middle and purple at the other. The colour was unusual in and of itself, but Ozpin noticed that the piece of string was sparkling too.


	3. Vision of Empire

**Chapter 3** – Vision of Empire

The Noxian Grand General, Jericho Swain stood on the balcony overseeing the city of Noxus. Swain was getting old. His hair was completely white and was beginning to wrinkle. He wore a black overcoat and a grey undercoat. It was because of his garments that one could tell he was a leader. Swain frequently went to that very spot and stood looking outwards like an astronomer watching the cosmos. The sun shone on Swain's right side and a black raven flew down and sat on the railing next to him. Swain had the best view of the heart of the glorious Noxian Empire. From the position his two feet were, all buildings in Southern Noxus were all his to be observed. However, Swain's vision extended far beyond his naked eye. Swain had the ability to see that which others could not. Peering into the distance, he could acutely visualise an area of Runeterra from miles away. It was an indescribable ability of his, but he had attempted to explain it as though he had a demonic eye, separate from his bodily pair, that could be cast anywhere he so pleased. As the pupils opened at the location he sent his demonic eye, everything in its sightline from all around would be seen and processed by Swain's mind. By extension, he could also look into the future and perceive events that had yet to happen.

His clairvoyance was not perfect by any means however. The eye's circumference was no bigger than a small basilisk, and Swain did not have the ability to preconceive exactly what he hoped to find when opening his demonic eye in a particular place. Any time he opened his eye, it was a literal shot in the dark. Imagine having a blindfold on and a bow & arrow in your hands: you know that there is a target, but you don't know how far away and in which direction. Getting exactly what you want – the target – is very much about chance.  
Swain's memory also played no role in determining exactly where he opened his demonic eye. Anywhere beyond the horizon was a guess. Even though he knew where Ionia was and had travelled there himself, this stored knowledge could not aid him in the precision of his distal sightings.

* * *

Swain was contemplating the Noxian Empire and his role in it. He was born into an aristocratic family and had maintained his sophisticated mannerisms throughout his rather long life. Right from the beginning, Swain was destined for greatness. Patriotism was sewn into his blood and veins, but as he grew older he realised, along with others of similar minds, that this passionate love of Noxus was the adoration of the nation and empire itself – not its current ruler. Swain's predecessor, Boram Darkwill was a gluttonous, power-hungry individual that sought out new territory only for himself.

Swain, who had a lead a regiment into Ionia, took it upon himself to seize the title and role as leader of Noxus. In spite of being crippled, losing his left hand at the Battle of Placidium and being demoted to nothing more than a crippled "failure", Swain emerged stronger than ever, with a new way of ruling Noxus that no longer put emphasis on the man in charge. Swain was pragmatic and realised that victory was not always guaranteed in battle. Some nations were not worth conquering if the price to pay was too high or the rewards were too low: a major oversight of Darkwill. His forces faltered in the invasion of Ionia and as they retreated, he was subsequently executed after Swain fought for power.

From the outside, Noxus seemed like a harsh, imperialistic nation, and whilst that was true, anyone from the inside would have said with hand on their heart that it was very inclusive and accepting of everyone, so long as you showed the determination to play your part in society. A street sweeper was just as valuable as Swain himself, because everyone did their best to make Noxus the greatest nation in all of Runeterra. All authority should be monitored and challenged. If Noxus was a living being, _it_ would be the sole ruler. Noxians bowed to Noxus and not to Swain, and the Grand Noxian General agreed wholeheartedly with this ideology. He knew that the Black Rose organisation was plotting against him, but Swain welcomed the challenge, for if he was defeated he knew that he would not be worthy to rule Noxus. The nation used the motto of _"Trifarix"_ , which consisted of vision, might and guile: the three core principles of strength. Each one was integral for Noxus to be as influential and strong as it was. The Trifarix encompassed everyone in Noxus and its non-contiguous territories. If one principle fell, the other two could hold it accountable. No one in Noxus with potential was overlooked.

Yet in spite of all this, Swain was still a human. He was afraid that he might suddenly lose his life to a rebellious group or assassin. The moralistic side of him also gnawed as his aching hips and asked if the very imperial fundamentals of Noxus were wrong. He had deceived people cunningly and even ruthlessly. He distinctly remembered sending the old headsman – Urgot – to the region of Zaun, knowing full well that an ambush was set up. He had heard nothing from Urgot ever since and presumed he was dead.  
It didn't matter in the end though. Swain was old and he was content living out his final years as General of Noxus.

Swain stared at the narrow streets of Noxus and smiled as he saw tradesman and healthy citizens going about their normal daily lives. Piltover may have been known as the "City of Progress", but Noxus was a thriving, ever-growing nation.

* * *

He felt something. Swain closed his eyes as a visceral sensation of frantic motion coursed through his body. It was an inward feeling, but it didn't belong to him and he almost fell over. This was definitely an outer body experience that his demonic eye could sense. He looked to the east and focused…

Swain called for a meeting in the audience chamber, near the Immortal Bastion. There was a large cumbersome throne in the room that technically belonged to Swain. It had an obsidian colour scheme and definitely looked regal, but the General never used it. Even being crippled, Swain refused to sit on a throne that was once a symbol of the power of the rulers and how they had been the focal point of Noxus. Having the right to sit on a throne doesn't make you a leader. It merely means that you have a bottom.  
A few select individuals were brought to the meeting and they sat around an ebony wooden table.

The first of these was Darius, the "Hand of Noxus". He was the embodiment of might. Darius was a tall, incredibly muscular warrior, who was lethal with an axe and could intimidate bears just by glaring at them. There was no better person to command the stronger Noxian infantries than him. Even without any armour on, he was still imposing. Despite having a short temper and zero tolerance for cowardice, Darius possessed an impenetrable loyalty to Noxus. He was so influential in helping Noxus to conquer more land on the front lines that many associated Darius more with leadership and charisma than Swain.

The second person was at the table was Alyssa Roshka Gloriana val-Lokan; a lady that had been born into an old Noxian nobility of the Delverhold. Her father had been obsequious to Darkwill but no one else. After his execution, Governor val-Lokan demanded to be extricated from his allegiance to Swain and Noxus. Alyssa's brother, Oram was the impetus for this demand. Alyssa on the other hand put her duties before her family. She killed Oram with her own hands and her father was executed soon after. Now she served as the Governor of Delverhold and was on very good terms with Swain after her display of pride in Noxus over her own blood and kin.

The third was a cloaked hooded figure. The person's body figure and anatomy suggested that it was a woman under the black robes, but no one knew for sure and no one had demanded that she unveil herself.

Between Swain, Darius and the hooded figure, the three of them symbolised vision, might and guile respectively.

* * *

'You summoned for us General?' Alyssa asked.

'I have.' confirmed Swain. 'I had… a vision…'

'A vision Sir?'

'Yes.'

'What kind of vision?' Alyssa prompted

'I saw something in the east that's never been seen before.'

'Please, elaborate.' said the hooded figure.

'I was standing on the balcony and just looking at the city when I felt a sensation, like an earthly tremor. It felt distant but I still almost lost my balance. Then I closed my eye and opened it eastwards. It was there that I saw a new place. I don't know where it was, but I would have speculated that it didn't seem like anywhere on Runeterra.'

'Did you see anyone there?' asked Alyssa.

'Yes. They were very casually dressed. Some of them had artificially coloured hair and carried metallic handheld devices in their hands. They seemed very futuristic.'

'That does sound an awful lot like Piltover, if you ask me.' said the hooded figure.

'I'm very sure that I sent my eye much further than Piltover. I sent it far oversees. The gadgets some of these people were wielding were technologically impressive, but the architecture and hot climate didn't imply that this was Piltover I saw. It looked like some of it had recently fallen down too.'

'Based on what you saw, what region do you think your vision corresponds with the most?' Alyssa suggested.

Swain lowered his head. 'No state that I can think of.'

'Did you see any signs, or anything with writing on it?'

'Hmm… yes, actually. There was one reoccurring word I saw: "Vacuo". Does this word mean anything to anyone in here?' The three other individuals shook their heads.

'No one's travelled the around the whole world. Not even the captains of Bilgewater dare venture too far out. Maybe you've managed to uncover an island we've never even heard of before.'

'Do you think it's worth conquering?' said Darius, speaking for the first time that meeting in a gruff mumble. He was throwing and catching a caltrop in his right hand. 'New land's new potential for Noxus to grow – especially if it's beyond water.'

'Land isn't always worth fighting for.' said Swain with a frown he directed at the floor. He pulled out his left hand from his robe. It was a glowing red diabolic hand that had been severed during the Noxian invasion of Ionia. Only after discovering, for himself, what lay inside the Immortal Bastion did the "demon" help him recover physically enough to grant him a new demonic hand. This hand had proved to be useful so far, but he still felt depressed on occasions at having lost his old one in the first place.

'I don't think I've ever asked. Who did that to you?' Alyssa asked, eying Swain's left hand.

'I don't know exactly who it was, but I know that she was a young girl, wielding levitating blades.'

'Do you reckon you'll ever see her again?'

'Maybe… if Noxus ever goes to Ionia or if she comes here. She's probably an impetuous girl with no restraints. I don't care if we never cross paths a second time, but I'll just strangle her if she has the misfortune to encounter me again.'

* * *

'So are we going to try and take this land?' Darius questioned.

'Only if we can find a reason to.' said Swain.

'There's no reason to not consider it though.' Darius insisted. 'If they're recently suffered damage, as your vision implies, then they're probably very easy to take down.'

'We don't even know where it is though. There's no telling how far away it is and whether or not our navy can make it all the way there and back. Invading Ionia was a mistake because Darkwill underestimated how powerful the Ionians were. We know nothing about Vacuo – assuming that's the name of the place – so we might get completely overwhelmed if they know how to handle invasions. They may have the capability of seeing us from miles away and then prepare themselves for our arrival.'

'Based on what you saw though, do you think that's the case? Looking at our proud army and knowing what we're capable of, would you say that it's a possibility?'

'Darius, if you're trying to insinuate that I'm weak or uninterested in taking Noxus forward, then that is _not_ the case. I just believe we need to know more about this place. Where exactly it is; how big it is, what weapons and resources they have. We also must be able to get to Vacuo, trounce it and then establish our own colony there. Planning comes before action.' said Swain pompously. 'For now nothing more needs to be said. If you so wish Darius, you can go and talk to your men about the possibility of preparing for battle and for conquering a nation. Make sure you foreground that it's a prospect at not a certainty though.'

'Very well Swain. I hope that you go through with this. It's about time that Noxus starts using red paint again.'

'Meeting adjourned.' Swain concluded. He went down the stairs to the ground. The fresh air brought him odd satisfaction after being in the audience chamber, even if only for a bit. Looking up to the sky he saw more ravens flying low. With a smile after seeing these oddly attractive black birds, he then turned his head towards the east again and glimpsed the sun with squinted eyes.

It should have been closer to the west, but was instead in almost the exact same position he had seen it when he was up on the balcony. Swain tucked in his lips. He knew something foreboding was going to happen.

Darius stood by a water fountain that stood around two hundred metres away from his common room. As he sipped the water from the cup, an ear-splitting scream erupted. Darius spluttered as he choked on the water in his throat and dropped the cup. He growled and gritted his teeth as he turned towards the direction the disturbance had come from.

* * *

'Land! What Land!' A raucous voice yelled amongst the higher ranked soldiers. 'I hear talk about property. If ya can walk on it, then its permit belongs to me and me alone!'  
Outside the common room for the Noxian military leaders was a yordle named Kled: the "Cantankerous Cavalier". Yordles grew no taller than a human's kneecap and were indigenous to Bandle City, but Kled was an exceptional case. No one knew how he had made it all the way across Valoran to Noxus. He was rumoured to be older than Swain and had lost all his sensibilities and sanity with age. Hearsay details Kled to have fought in every major Noxian campaign. He has supposedly never backed down from any fight he was involved in and was also believed to have acquired every single military title in Noxus. These included, but were not limited to: " _Lord Colonel Major Centurion_ ", " _Lieutenant Sergeant Commodore_ " and even " _High Major Commodore of the First Legion Third Multiplication Double Admiral Artillery Vanguard Company_ ". Kled was esteemed by the weaker ranks of the Noxian Army, distrusted by chiefs and officers, and loathed by the nobility for his obnoxious voice and unending harangue. Kled was vulgar, rude, insensitive, deranged and inextricably hard to escape from when he was even remotely agitated.

In battle, he was characterised by unrelenting ferocity and the ability to ignore all regard for safety and common sense. This was only made possible by his trustworthy mount whom he called "Skaarl". Skaarl was part of the Drakalops: a species of lizard described as being immortal but with a brain smaller than Kled's own stability.  
When in the heart of a fight, Kled rode Skaarl and carried a long axe, a pocket pistol and bear trap attached to a rope.  
It was hard to tell if you should respect Kled or not. Even in the Noxian ranks with a lot of forbearance of noises and chaos, it was hard to not get annoyed by him. Ultimately, what everyone could agree on though was to not make him angry.

'Yes Kled. Darius just talked to us about the possibility of going to a continent across the eastern sea.' said one of the vanguards.

'Across water! I was talking about LAND and not salt! You can't tread through water!

'General Swain's still looking into the matter of whether or not it's worth going over there.' the vanguard replied agitatedly

'There'd better be none of them magic users over there! Noxus don't need no more humiliating defeat at some magicians, or I'll strangle them with their own intestines and dunk their bleeding bodies in salt and vinegar!'

* * *

Darius heard Kled's shouting from over two hundred metres away by the water fountain. He slapped his head, instantly regretting the decision to mention his meeting with Swain. The cavalier could yell for almost an hour if he had something to shout at. Darius couldn't deny how valuable Kled was in the Noxian Army, but he was very tempted to take his axe and cleave the yordle in half for some silence.  
He picked up the cup he had dropped and looked in the direction of the eastern sea. 'Vacuo' Darius said repeatedly in his head. 'Vacuo. We're coming for you!'


	4. Suspension of Victory

**Chapter 4** – Suspension of Victory

Cheers were flying and screams were soaring through the air in all directions. The Vytal Festival Tournament was in full force and the hype was uncaged. So far, three matches in the teams round had been fought.

Team RWBY had successfully triumphed over the motley Team ABRN of Haven Academy with unpredictable strategy and synergy from Blake Belladonna; versatility and control over the icy battlefield from Weiss Schnee, long range and team support from Ruby Rose and the raw power and strength from Yang Xiao Long. It had been a close battle and difficult to win due to how unconventional Team ABRN members and their fighting styles were, but they prevailed in the end as Blake cunningly threw Reese Chloris out of the ring, and Yang managed to knock out Arslan Atlan, Bolin Hori and Nadir Shiko in one punch with the assistance of momentum from her team.

The excitement was just beginning and it was only going to get better from then onwards.

* * *

Following RWBY's victory, their good friends – Team JNPR – consisting of leader Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren, took on the tough eggs – Team BRNZ – of Shade Academy. The match was especially tough for Team JNPR, due to the harassment of May Zedong: Team BRNZ's sniper. In the end however, after Team JNPR unintentionally paused the match to have a conversation about team attack names, Nora single-handedly knocked Team BRNZ across the entire arena with her hammer "Magnhild".

But now it was time for Team SSSN of Haven Academy to clash with Team NDGO of Shade Academy. Professor Peter Port and Dr Bartholomew Oobleck were giving commentary to enhance the atmosphere.

'Ah, well, Vacuo fans are sure to be hurting after that one,' said Oobleck as a photo of Nora hitting Team BRNZ with terrified expressions was displayed across televisions and computers all across Remnant. 'but this next round will have them on the edge of their seats.'

Port took over and introduced the next round. 'Team NDGO of Shade is certainly a crowd favourite. But these lovely ladies are going against some of the toughest, testosterone filled, teammates we've seen so far. I'm of course talking about Team SSSN!' Some of the Haven students in the audience were waving large portraits of Team SNNN members: Sun Wukong, Scarlet David, Sage Ayana and Neptune Vasilias. 'Sun Wukong and his team are certainly a force to be reckoned with. And although he'll be representing the Mistral academy of Haven, I'm sure his friends and family back in Vacuo will be cheering him along.'

Team SSSN were smiling and waving to the crowd. They then turned to view their competition: Team NDGO, consisting of Nebula Violette, Dew Gayl, Gwen Darcy and Octavia Ember.

'Ladies.' said Neptune flirtingly.

In the audience, Weiss looked outraged.

'Alright girls, try and remember. Hands… above the waist.' he gestured with his hands.

'Ignore him, for he… yeah he's dumb.' Sun said apologetically.

Neptune winked and Team NDGO averted their eyes away from Neptune in disgust.

The Amity cycled through the environmental biomes for each side. The desert biome was Team NDGO's side. The audience put on sunglasses to protect their eyes. 'Alright, home field advantage!' said Nebula happily.

'Don't get too cocky, that's my turf too.' Sun interjected.

'I hope I don't get sand in my shoes.' said Scarlet anxiously.

'Be cool, man.' said Neptune reassuringly.

'Hey, the ocean!' Gwen commented as the ocean biome was selected for Team SSSN's side. Neptune turned around. He became rigid with a petrified look on his face.

* * *

Oobleck counted down, 'Three, two, one, begin!' and the frantic match began. Neptune immediately ran at lightning speed, right past Team NDGO, up the hill on their side.

'Neptune! What are you doing?!' Sage cried out, displeased.

'Oh, you know, just, uh, getting to higher ground.' he answered nervously. His voice was now very high-pitched.

'On the enemy's side?!' Sun asked questioningly.

'They would never expect it!'

'He's not wrong.' Dew commented.

Nebula hesitated no longer and commanded her team to charge. 'Open fire!' she cried.

Sage, Sun and Scarlet ran to meet NDGO. Octavia and Scarlet danced in battle. Both of them were fast and were unable to hit each other. Sage raised his impressively massive sword above his head and roared as he swung it downwards towards Dew, only to be countered by how quickly she could spin her spear. Sage skidded backwards and looked up in shock.  
Dew began to draw a circle in the air with the tip of her spear and conjured multiple sand tornados. They converged around Sage and sent him high up into the air. He screamed as it spat him out of the ring. Already, Team SSSN's burliest member was eliminated.

'And NDGO gains the advantage.' said Oobleck, his voice blasting across the stadium for everyone to hear how Sage had been utterly defeated.

Octavia skidded towards Sun and Scarlet with a cocky visage. She swung her dagger and it sent a major shockwave of sand into their faces. Sun retreated and called for Neptune to help, who was still idling on the mountain. He put on his goggles to protect his eyes from the sand and turned his guandao into a gun. He shot a blast of electricity at Octavia to distract her as Sun leaped out of the sky to kick her in the head. She staggered backwards and retaliated angrily, but her strength paled in comparison to Sun. He blocked her thrust and swung his staff multiple times into Octavia. She fell to the ground on her back and the buzzer sounded to signal that she was out.  
'Oh! And we're down to 3-on-3!' exclaimed Port. Sun looked around to see how the rest of his team were doing.

Dew conjured another sand tornado that caught Scarlet in its grasp. He was sent soaring through the air out of control, but he managed to regain it and glided towards the ocean biome. He used his cutlass to land on the boom of the ship in the arena. Nebula shot an arrow from her crossbow into the mast and used it as a spring to launch herself up to the boom to go toe to toe with Scarlet. She transformed the crossbow into a sword. They both held their balance and exchanged swings and clashes from their blades. Nebula hit Scarlet in the face with the hilt of her sword and he immediately retaliated by kicking hers. She circled herself around the mast to stop herself from falling off and swung her blade down to try and knock Scarlet down. It looked like she had the advantage, but Scarlet overpowered Nebula and elbowed her off the boom. She landed flat on her back.  
Scarlet saw Gwen pirouetting on the ground. He pulled out the grappling hook component of his gun to catch her by the ankle. Using his body weight as he jumped down, she was sent reeling upwards. As she was hanging upside down, the all knives stored in her armoured skirt dropped down. Scarlet looked up in terror. He stood still and was unable to move, but all of the knives fortuitously managed to miss him. 'Phew.' he breathed.

Dew jumped towards Sun with a determined grin. He was standing next to a palm tree, punched it, two coconuts that fell from it and he threw them with great accuracy at Dew. She reflected them effortlessly though. Sun dodged but the coconuts found a new target. The first one hit Scarlet squarely in the face. He spun around dazed, only to be immediate hit by the second one in the groin. He was knocked out instantly.

'Nuts.' said Sun dejectedly.

It was now two versus three and Neptune was still contributing very little to the fight. Dew summoned another set of tornados. Sun used his agility to dodge but was getting annoyed at Neptune's lack of assistance. 'Uh, Neptune?! Could use some help buddy!' he shouted as he cartwheeled through Dew's tornados.

'Uh, ya know, it would probably be better if you came over here! Yeah. I can guard this… sector! We're in lockdown mode!' he said from the desert biome.

'What are you talking about?! There's nothing to lock down!'

'Lockdown! Right! You got it!'

Nebula shot an arrow to let Gwen down and Dew once again jumped to try and impale Sun. He hopped out of the way and held his hands up in frustration. 'Dude, I know you're afraid of water but you gotta -' Dew sprang into the air again and tried to stab Sun once again, but Neptune shot a bolt of electricity at her to intercept the attack and was knocked back into the water.

'There, I helped! Are you happy now?! Also, I am not afraid of water and I have no idea YOU are talking about!'

Nebula and Gwen leaped into the water to where Dew had landed. She picked herself up and three of them posed, ready to attack.

'NEPTUNE!' Sun shouted angrily.

'Okay, fine! Just get out of the water!' Neptune turned his gun back into a guandao, tiptoed gingerly up the water and thrust it down. An electrical surge was sent through the water. The three members of team NDGO were electrocuted and eliminated as a trio. Team SSSN had won.

'And with that, Team SSSN moves on to the doubles round!' Port announced. 'You know what I'd call that victory?'

'Shocking?' said Oobleck.

'No. Well earned. What you said is stupid.' Port replied disappointedly.

Sun danced triumphantly with Neptune. He spotted Blake in the audience and winked at her. Blake blushed and then she and her team left the stadium.

* * *

Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Sun and Neptune were gathered inside the library the next day. Scarlet and Sage were still in their dormitories in convalescence after the match.

'Well, those were some good matches.' said Sun.

'You can say that again.' Ruby responded.

'Those were some good matches.'

'And again!'

'Those were some good ma-' Blake put her hand over Sun's mouth. 'No, no more.' she said plainly.

'It's okay Blake. We're just celebrating our victories.' said Yang in high spirits.

'Yes!' Nora cried out. 'Just a few more rounds of brutal guts and glory and we'll be on our way to taking the trophy for ourselves with nothing getting in our way! That is, unless there IS something in our way and we just haven't seen it yet, which will hit us at the most unexpected of moments, even though we're been trained to expect the unexpected! But it might be something that we didn't foresee and our chances for victory will be tossed out the window before we even have a chance to retaliate! It could be a secret weapon that another team has up their sleeves! It could some sort superpower or magic! It could an analyser that observes us and learns about our behaviour and patterns! It could be a spy camera watching us right now! What if it's hidden on the shelves amongst the books?! What if they're listening to us right now?! Some other team will take over, humiliate us and we'll be sitting in shame with our heads low, unable to raise them up in case someone points and laughs. We'll be so depressed that we can't pass our exams because of how low we're feeling and then we'll be outcasts for the rest of our lives! Nothing is certain!' Nora was breathing heavily.

'Nora… please.' said Ren.

Neptune, who was standing, backed away from the table the teams were gathered around. 'Is she… normally like this?' he asked.

'Yes…'

'It's okay Nora.' Pyrrha said encouragingly. 'We went through this just before we fought our first match. It's okay to lose, since we've competing to have fun and engage with other schools. As long as we try our best, that's what matters the most.'

'Exactly.' Jaune agreed confidently. 'I mean, look at me: I'm still not very good and yet we've persevered and have made it through the first round. You shouldn't be worried Nora since you were the one who obliterated Team BRNZ in just one swing! If anything, _I_ should be the one that's worried.' He gave a thumbs up and smiled. 'No need to worry guys, everything's going to be okay!'

'Yeah, we'll keep kicking butt until we fall!' said Yang ecstatically.

'Students, please!' came a voice from around the corner of a bookcase. It was Professor Goodwitch. 'This is a library, please keep your voices down.'

'Sorry Professor' said Pyrrha, after which the other students did the same.

'Hmm, I was just going to say that you guys were talking to loud.' said Weiss sycophantically.

'Pfft, yeah whatever. You didn't make any effort to, and you're just saying that right now because Professor Goodwitch is here.' Ruby retorted.

'I-I did not!' Weiss replied indignantly. 'You guys really _were_ talking too loud!'

'That's enough!' said Goodwitch. 'I can see that you're happy so far with how you're all performing, but this is a library, not a party.

'Anyway, I was looking for Team RWBY and Team JNPR. Professor Ozpin wanted to have a word with you eight. He's in the main hall right now.' She looked at Sun and Neptune and added 'You two boys might as well come along too. It'd be worth listening to what he has to say.'

'Sure. Why not?' said Sun.

'Yeah, let's go.' Neptune concurred.

'Is something wrong Professor?' Pyrrha asked.

'The answer might be yes or no. I can't say for sure at the moment. Ozpin, General Ironwood and I have had a conversation with your Uncle Qrow' she said addressing Ruby and Yang.

'Uncle Qrow?' said Ruby startled. 'He's here?'

'Yes, he is, and he's delivered us big news: something we think students need to be aware of.'

'What kind of news?' Jaune queried.

'We'll explain everything once we get to the main hall.' said Goodwitch.

* * *

It was odd seeing the hall so empty and spacious. Usually many more people gathered in here. Ozpin was standing on the podium, along with General Ironwood and Qrow.

'Uncle Qrow!' said Ruby as she approached him. She jumped onto the podium and grabbed him. He lifted her up off the floor with just his arm. 'Hi. Ahh, it's so good to see you! Did you miss me? Did you miss me?!

'Nope.' he said jokingly.

'Thank you for coming.' said Ozpin.

'So, what's the matter Professor?' asked Pyrrha.

'I'll get on with it straight away. May I ask that you please leave questions until the end?' Ozpin then began to recount the conversation that took place yesterday.

'And there you have it, he finished. Ozpin had only excluded the part about the Fall Maiden. He believed that it was not the right time to disclose that information yet. 'Do you have any questions?'

'I reckon that all of us have a ton.' said Ruby. 'Where do we start?'

'I have one.' said Blake. 'Who do you think is doing all this? If you don't believe that this can be naturally occurring, then who engineered this, and how?'

'We were having this discussion yesterday and concluded that there is no saying for now. This requires much more investigation before anything else can be said decisively.'

'And why are we being told this?' Yang asked.

'Because I think that my students have the right to know things like this. You are huntsmen and huntresses in the making. Unanticipated events like these may very well be parts of your lives if you are going down the path of a warrior. It will be up to you and fellow huntsmen and huntresses deal with situations like these. As of right now there's nothing that can be done, because we're still waiting for the Cross Continental Transmit Systems to go back online, however I would rather not spring this information on you and get you to do something without warning, because if things are looking bad, we may be looking at the possibility of going east or west to help the other kingdoms. They made need help re-establishing their villages and getting things fixed, or they may even need defending from the creatures of Grimm, or potentially something even worse. It's better to know now and have time to think about it and get into the right frame of mind before we potentially go on an arduous field trip that may be more than just a visit.'

'What about the Vytal Festival Tournament?' Sun questioned. 'Will it just be cancelled if we're needed elsewhere? Also if it isn't cancelled, how will the timings work when the cycle of day and night is all screwed up?'

'The Vytal Festival will continue for now. With regards to the extended length of day and night, we'll rework the schedule so that the fights are happening during the day. But if things turn out to be problematic, then the Vytal Festival Tournament will be put on hold until things calm down. With a calamity like the planet increasing in size and other unforetold evils out there, it might take a while for things to go back to normal. I see that you are enjoying yourselves so far and that's fine. You're engaging in a friendly competition, but let's just say in a poetic sense that there _may_ be a suspension of glory if a problem arises. A bookmark will be placed in the current chapter.'

'Is there anything else we need to know Professor?' asked Weiss.

'Actually, there _is_ one thing.' Ozpin reached into his pocket and pulled out a test tube that was sealed with a cork. 'I'd like you three to see it as well.' he said, looking at Goodwitch, Ironwood and Qrow. The test tube was passed around, allowing everyone to see what was inside. 'After you three left my office yesterday, I found this outside my window and had it retrieved.' It was the long, sparkling strand of hair and a piece of popcorn.'

'These were sitting outside your window Professor?' asked Goodwitch.

'Yes. It's beyond me how this one piece of popcorn managed to make it outside managed to get onto the clock hand, and I have no idea what that strand is.'

'It looks like hair, but no hair sparkles like that or is of that colour.' Ironwood commented. 'Have you felt its texture Ozpin?'

'I have, but it's now become a subject of investigation. I don't want to damage it. Does this, by any chance, mean anything to anyone here?' Everyone shook their heads.

'Then that concludes this meeting.' said Ozpin as he put the test tube back into his pocket. 'Thank you for your time students. Good luck with the tournament, your studies and whatever else stands in front of you.'

'No problem professor.' they all said unanimously.

'Uncle Qrow, do you want to come and play with us? We have some fighting games in our dorm.' said Ruby

'Do you still need me Oz?'

'No. You can feel free to spend time with your niece.' Ozpin smiled.

'Then sure, I can come and show you who's the best at showing who's boss.'

'Ahh, great, great! Let's go then! Yang, do you want to join us?'

'Alright, I can come for some action.' she said vigorously.

They all exited the main hall.

'So I guess we'll see you guys later?' Ruby said to everyone else.

'Maybe we should all head back to our rooms. Our bodies will need to get used to the longer days and nights.' suggested Ren. 'Normally it would be getting late at this time.'

'Dude, I'm a night owl. I can stay up for hours on end.' said Neptune smugly.

'What if Sage and Scarlet want some company? Maybe you should head back to your room for that reason alone.' Pyrrha recommended.

'You know that's a good point. Maybe we should.' said Sun. 'Is that okay Neptune?'

'Eh, alright. Later then guys.'  
They all exchanged goodbyes and left.

* * *

Ozpin walked in the direction of his office. A new thought was growing in his head. He had vacillated between talking about the Fall Maiden. Amber was becoming weaker and weaker. Her powers needed to be transferred over to a new host soon, but he was conscious of how troubling such news, and further still a request, would be for his students.

Time was of the essence. He needed to ask Pyrrha Nikos soon.


	5. The Dust Vanguard

**Chapter 5** – The Dust Vanguard

Shurima.

A vast desert with copious sand and centuries of fascinating history.  
Many of its mysteries have been burned and erased from memory by its scorching heat, and others have perished by the arid conditions that make sustainability a difficult procedure. The past is only preserved if there is something to recount it.

Contemporary Shurimans can tell you about the myths and legends of the ancient Shuriman Empire, led by the youngest son of a former Emperor, known as Azir, until its obliteration by the traitorous slave boy and once best friend of Azir: Xerath.  
Others can also speak about the horrors of the war between the Shuriman Empire and one of its colonised regions: Icathia, which no longer stands tall and proud after the rebels meddled with unspeakable magic that tore a rift in the woven fabric of matter. The Void was opened, revealing the abominations of unreality and total destruction. The Shurimans were defeated, but Icathia was swallowed whole and disappeared from existence. The war was won through inadvertent self-sacrifice.

* * *

The details and intricacies of these events are actually far greater than described here, but the superfluous scrutiny of human history in Shurima was for a long time no concern of the ancient Brackern race that had inhabited the Valley of Song in Southern Shurima, long before any human had settled in the desert. The Brackern were immense crystallised scorpion-like creatures that could grow to the size of small houses. They were wise and their very lives were tied to ancient crystals. Each Brackern had the responsibility to go and find one that was "meant" for them. A dying Brackern was a rarity, but whenever one did die, its consciousness was stored inside the crystal that had accompanied it throughout its life. This preserved consciousness would then act as an aid to the next Brackern who owned the crystal next.

But just as the Brackern knew little about the existence of humans, humans were oblivious to existence of the Brackern.

The ancient Rune Wars broke out and enveloped the world in chaos. To preserve their lives, the Brackern went into hibernation in the valley that they resided in, using only their crystals as their beating hearts for sustenance. Significant events in Shuriman history, like the rise and fall of the Shuriman Empire, the annihilation of Icathia and the Noxian occupation in Northern Shurima were unknown to them.

It wasn't until recently that black marketers discovered the Brackern and their crystals, viewing the fascinating gems as potential for valuable trade commodities. As explosives were used to open the caverns and expose the Brackern and precious crystals, only one sole Brackern awoke from the incursion. He was called "Skarner".

Skarner was among the strongest of his kin, and horrified to see the band of thieves attacking his home. He fought back as best he could, but could only retrieve a few of his friends' crystals and kill some of the thieves without dying in the process. He attempted to wake up some of his kin to help him, but they died after mere moments without their crystals in claw.

The remaining marauders ran away, but Skarner could not follow in pursuit. He had to stay and keep watch over his vulnerable friends.

For weeks he trod the same sand over and over again, thinking about how to deal with the predicament he was in. In the end he concluded that if the crystals continued to be mistreated by humans, his kin would die.

It was a risk that Skarner had to take, but he had to go on a long journey that would take him across Valoran, to regions he had never seen before.  
After spending a month erasing all traces of the human excavation, he set off on his long peregrination.

* * *

Skarner made sure to steer clear of human settlement, avoiding the trader's settlement of Marrowmark and rivers that were likely to be reliable source of water. This wasn't too difficult to do though because so many areas of Shurima were uninhabited, but it also meant that he would be trekking over the harder to traverse regions, such as hilly or mountainous ones He also did not want to get into a fight with a Xer'Sai, an eldritch species of predators from the Void, which was named after The Great Sai: the region in the desert that they typically roamed. With his own crystal in his possession though, tiring and becoming exhausted was not an issue.  
The sun also bothered Skarner very little. It was sweltering to most beings, but to a Brackern with a crystallised exoskeleton it was nothing.

He had been travelling for over a month continuously and had still not made his way out of Shurima: Kalduga was still miles away.

Skarner stopped and looked towards the ground. Though he could not see all of his six legs, he felt an unnatural tremor in the earth that ran through them. It made him feel uncomfortable and deeply anxious. He could sense that the vibrations were coming from somewhere distant, but because of how closely tied the Brackern were to the land, he felt every tremor like a violent earthquake. He closed his eyes and wished with all his heart that it would end.

Around three minutes passed and the tremors subsided. Skarner opened his eyes. Everything seemed to be fine around him, but he sensed something new in his presence. The earth felt… different.  
The sensation was ineffable to humans, but Skarner knew intrinsically that earth was not the same it had been mere minutes ago. It seemed larger and denser.

This was not all though.  
In his inner body, he could feel a newfound energy in the air that only he could detect. It seemed to be coming from all directions, but more strongly so from the east. It reminded him of the time he spent searching for his own crystal in the valley, but this sensation was on a far greater scale than anything he had felt before. There were no crystals nearby. How could there possibly be this much energy in the earth all of a sudden? It could have been magic, but crystals weren't carriers of magic.

Skarner knew that we was emotionally sick, but he was also aware of his own sagacity and how finely tuned his senses were. This was not the case of a human having a mirage of seeing a body of water in the desert: this was different. The energy he felt was no illusion.  
Mixed feelings and suppositions were going through Skarner's mind.

It seemed inconceivable that energy like those found in the Brackern crystals could materialise out of nowhere, but if it _had_ , then a spark of hope grew in the young scorpion's heart. The crystals found in Southern Shurima were finite, so this emanating energy could potentially be harvested and brought back to his family.

Darkness was around every corner though. What if the energy was the result of humans tampering with the crystals that had been stolen from his kind? Could this be negative, inorganic energy?  
Or what if the source of the energy was being emitted from something bad? The pernicious effects of something that is seemingly good for you can quickly end one's life.

Nothing was certain, but one word stood out to Skarner that came with the energy that he now sensed: "Dust".

* * *

He couldn't pinpoint where the word came from or how it related to the energy he was feeling, but the term seemed significant to him nonetheless.  
Skarner's theory was that "dust" was a manmade energy propellant that may have been extracted from the earth and had been tinkered with. Regardless of whether or not it was a good feeling, Skarner felt invigorated at the possibility of having discovered an alternative to the crystals his kin had been so dependent on.

The young Brackern could not decipher how far way the dust was. It could be on a different continent altogether, and Skarner had no idea how to swim. The length of the journey didn't matter though. For many humans, all that mattered was the destination: an afterlife. For the Brackern on the other claw, life was a lesson: a lesson to be retained and a lesson can only be learned via the journey through it. If there is a goal to be reached, then the goal _must_ be reached. If there is fight to be fought, then you _must_ fight.

Skarner's original mission was to retrieve the crystals that had been stolen from him. A renewal of avidity coursed through his body though. His zeal was energised. Skarner was the protector of his race and their crystals, but now, he was also the collector of dust.

Skarner: The Dust Vanguard


	6. Gone with the Autumn Wind

**Chapter 6** – Gone with the Autumn Wind

Pyrrha Nikos exited the elevator and walked into Professor Ozpin's office. Qrow was also there, leaning against a pillar that supported the canopy above the entrance to the elevator.  
'Come in Miss Nikos.' said Ozpin with a welcoming smile.

'Well, it comes as no surprise that they've chosen you to move onto the final round of the tournament.' Ozpin remarked as Pyrrha sat down on the chair in front of the headmaster's desk.

All of the teams and doubles round had been fought. All that remained were the singles: the apotheosis of the tournament for some. It was a chance to test yourself and _only_ yourself in a one-on-one fight. The singles round were about pure skill and no reliance on any of your teammates: a very probable real-life situation for a huntsman or huntress. They may not be as action packed as having eight or four fighters in the ring, but they were certainly far tenser for the combatants.

'Your performance has been exemplary.'

'Thank you, Professor Ozpin, but I would never have made it this far without my teammates.' she replied modestly.

'Personally, I think it's the other way around.' Qrow interrupted rudely.

Pyrrha stood up and turned around to meet Qrow. 'I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've been properly introduced. You're Ruby and Yang's uncle, right?'

'I am. Name's Qrow.'

'Qrow is a trusted colleague of mine.' Ozpin explained.

'Professor, if you don't mind me asking, why have you called me here?' Pyrrha asked, returning to face to Ozpin.

'Please, take a seat.' said Ozpin gently, gesturing towards the chair that Pyrrha had just been sitting in. She sat back down gracefully. 'What is your favourite fairy tale?' he asked, seemingly randomly.

'I'm sorry?' she asked, confused.

'Fairy tales. Stories from your childhood. Surely you must remember some of them.' he said reassuringly, to show that this was not a trick question. He put his fingers together and placed his elbows on the desk. It was astounding how approachable Ozpin was.

'Well, there's the Tale of the Two Brothers; The Shallow Sea; The Girl in the Tower-'

'What about the story of the seasons?' Ozpin said before she could list anymore.

'Oh, of course!

Pyrrha recited the story out loud. 'A callous old man who refuses to leave his home is visited by four travelling sisters.  
The first understands his reclusive nature and urges him to use his time in solitude to reflect and meditate.  
The second brings him fruits and flowers, tending to his crops and revitalising his garden.  
The Third warms the man's heart, convincing him to step outside and embrace the world around him.  
And the fourth and final sister begs him to look at all that he has and be thankful.  
In return for their kindness, the man grants the maidens incredible powers, so that they may continue to help others all over the world.  
They graciously accept, and promise to share their gifts with the people of Remnant until the end of days.  
Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. The Four Maidens.  
My mother loves that story.' she said happily.

'Would you believe me if I told you that one's been around since I was a boy?' said Ozpin.

'You're not that old, Professor.' said Pyrrha light-heartedly.

'Well, would you believe me if I told you it was true?' he then said in a far more serious tone.

Pyrrha was startled. 'I beg your pardon?' she said irresolutely.

'What if I were to tell you that there were four maidens existing in this world that could wield such tremendous power without Dust?'

'You mean like a Semblance?'

'Like magic.'

Pyrrha was at a loss for words.

'Yeah, first time hearing it's pretty crazy.' Qrow interjected.

'You're serious?' said Pyrrha with profound disbelief.

'Do I look like I'm joking?' said Ozpin with a stern look.

'…No.' she responded with dubiously. 'Why-why are you telling me this?'

Ozpin eyed Qrow, and he nodded. 'We're telling you, Pyrrha Nikos, because we believe that you are next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers.'  
'We?' she said questioningly.

The elevator doors opened. Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood stepped out.

'Sorry we're late.' Ironwood apologised, straightening his tie as he did so.

'Wait, what is this? Who are you?' Pyrrha asked demandingly. She was becoming awfully suspicious and uncomfortable.

'You know who we are. 'We're still the same teachers and headmasters you met when you arrived at Beacon.' said Goodwitch reassuringly.

'Cept we've got a little part time job.' Qrow added.

'We're the protectors of this world.' Ironwood said.

'And we need your help.' Ozpin finished.

Pyrrha had virtually no idea what was going on. She swallowed her own tongue and was unable to formulate her initial thoughts into words.

* * *

The five of them stood tightly in the elevator. It was going exceptionally far down.

'Where are we going?' Pyrrha asked.

'The vault, under the school.' Ozpin answered.

The elevator doors opened to reveal an enormously wide and tall corridor, held up by cuboid pillars and lit only by gloomy fire torches on brackets.  
The four adults walked on ahead, but Pyrrha took steps forwards hesitantly, taking in the ambient environment. The footsteps echoed off the walls and ceiling. Everything about the vault was so intimidating.

Goodwitch held back to let Pyrrha catch up. 'I'm sure you must have questions.' she said empathetically.

'Maybe one or two.' she responded. It was more like fifty. 'I still don't understand. You said I was next in line to receive the Maiden's power. What do you mean by that?'

'The Maidens have existed for thousands of years. But, much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a Maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost and that no individual can hold onto the power forever.'

'So how does the power choose?'

'Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules.' said Qrow.

'Qrow!' said Goodwitch, annoyed at the tone in which he answered Pyrrha's question.

'Hey, don't get mad cause I'm right.' he said indignantly.

Goodwitch scoffed, but then continued to explain how the power of the Maidens was transferred to another host. 'At first, the only thing that was certain was that the powers were specifically passed onto young women. But as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was much more… intimate.'

'Intimate?' Pyrrha repeated quietly.

'As we understand it now, when a Maiden dies, the one who was in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power.'

'Unless it's a dude or some old hag. Then the power goes to someone random, and our jobs get a lot harder.' Qrow added.

'Why tell me all of this now? Why not wait until I've graduated?' Pyrrha asked nervously.

'Honestly, we've run out of time.' said Qrow. 'I don't know if you've noticed, but things are getting a lot scarier out in the world. Tensions are high. Grimm are growing stronger, more prevalent, and it's not gonna be much longer before this peace we've all been enjoying so much goes out the window.'

'You're not talking about war?' Pyrrha asked nervously.

'Not a war between nations.' said Ironwood.

'We can fill you in on the details once you know you're with us.' said Qrow austerely. 'For now all you need to know is that one of the Maidens was attacked, and for the first time in history, part of her power was stolen.'

The five eventually arrived at their destination. At the very end of the vault was a comatose life-support machine with two separate repository pods for people to fit inside. Between the two pods was a computer screen and two separate keypads.  
Ozpin went up to the left pod to examine in it.  
A look of utmost shock and panic etched its way onto his face as he realised that it was empty.

* * *

'WHAT!' Ozpin cried out. He rushed up to the pod where the Fall Maiden was supposed to be and pressed his hands and face against it. His eyes weren't deceiving him: she really was gone. 'Where's the Fall Maiden?!'

The alarm bounced from person to person. Everyone was chewing on their own words and were unable to form a sentence.

'I-I don't know!' shouted Ironwood. 'There's no way she could've gotten out! She was on the brink of death!'

'But where is she General?!' Ozpin said, losing all of his usual equanimity.

'H-how am I supposed to know?! This is _your_ vault!'

'But this is _your_ technology! Atlesian state-of-the-art technology!'

'Gentlemen, please!' Goodwitch yelled. 'Let's not panic just yet! We should examine the comatose machine and see if anything's been tampered with.'

Ironwood inspected the computer and Qrow went behind the machine to see if anything was hiding there. 'There's nothing here.' he said in an agitated voice.  
'The computer says the machine is still running, but there was a weight decrease in the pod just under five hours ago.'

'Miss Nikos. My apologies for bringing you here, only to discover that the Fall Maiden has somehow disappeared.' Ozpin addressed to his perplexed star pupil. 'I will dismiss you for now, since the four of us need to think this through.'

'Okay, Professor. What should I do in the meantime?'

'I am not meaning to be rude here, but I need you to leave the vault for now. I'll talk to you about the Maidens in detail at a later date, but may I have your word that you do not talk about the Four Maidens to anyone – not even your own teammates. This whole ordeal is strictly classified between us four and now you. Do I have your word?'

'Yes, Professor Ozpin.'

'Thank you Miss Nikos.'

Pyrrha walked away with a monotone expression on her face. Seeing Professor Ozpin so stressed was something she could not have imagined if she had not seen him that way with her own eyes. Mixed feelings were going through here head. None were more prevalent than the other, but it all amalgamated together into one overarching emotion: anxiety.

* * *

Ozpin, Qrow, Goodwitch and Ironwood stood in a circle. 'Let's go through all the possibilities and theories together.' Goodwitch counselled.

'There's no possibility for Amber to have gotten out of the pod in the condition that she was in.' Ozpin said adamantly.

'Remember that we still don't have a complete and full understanding of what the Maidens are capable of. Her aura was dangerously low, but if Maidens can utilise magic, then maybe Amber had the ability to regenerate over time and eventually free herself.' said Ironwood.

'But why would she have not done that sooner then?' said Qrow. 'I managed to save her in the nick of time before her powers were completely stolen. If she was unable to save herself from her assailants, then why would she be able to escape only now?'

'I'm just thinking through all the possible explanations.' Ironwood replied. 'Atlas has been studying aura from a scientific standpoint for the past few years. We've made significant strides, but almost all scientists would agree that their work is never done. The very laws of nature and physics are constantly being tested, analysed and discovered. The issue with the planet's enlargement is testimony to that. Who's to say that Amber's Aura has been passively healing her all this time and she has only recovered enough strength to be able to escape five hours ago?'

'It's possible, but even if she had, she would have had to cross the whole vault, go up the elevator, exit it in broad daylight and go who knows where. Someone would've seen her.' Ozpin commented.

'Let's also not forget that Amber's vitals were almost at zero. It would've been very unlikely for her to heal just enough so that she could push the pod door open and stagger her way across the vault and then out into the courtyard. It's even _more_ unlikely that she could've recovered completely so that she could use her Semblance and powers in full effect, especially since half of her powers were stolen from her.' Goodwitch pointed out.

'And to top it all off, the machine is password protected. To open it otherwise would require her to smash the pod open, but the thing is perfectly intact.' said Ozpin as though he were concluding an argument decisively.

The group bowed their heads and continued to think.

'What if Amber didn't escape on her own?' said Qrow. 'The lack of evidence for any case seems to suggest that Amber might have been taken.'

'But by who?' said Ironwood. 'No one except us knew that the Fall Maiden was down here.'

'Her attackers certainly will have been looking for her ever since Qrow rescued her.' said Ozpin. Do you remember what they looked like?' Ozpin asked Qrow.

'There were three of them. The one that Amber's powers were being transferred to had short black hair and a red dress with yellow decals. She was kind of attractive admittedly, but the malign look in her eyes was anything but appealing. She was using fiery projectiles and what seemed like dust woven into her clothes. I'm can't be sure if that was her Semblance or part of Amber's power.'

'That sounds almost exactly like the woman Ruby and I fought on the very night we first met, and the woman that we thought might have infiltrated the CCTS on the night of the dance.'

'Then that must be it!' Ironwood exclaimed. 'She was _here_ in Beacon and she clearly fits the description of the one who attacked the Fall Maiden!'

'Let's not jump to conclusions just yet, James.' said Goodwitch. 'Ruby and I never actually saw the woman's face. Ruby also didn't see the infiltrator's face, since she was wearing a mask.'

'And as you said, General, on the day we interrogated Ruby, embedding dust into clothing is a relatively common, age-old technique.' Ozpin mentioned. 'Only Qrow actually saw the face of the woman she encountered. What about the other two assailants? What did they look like?'

'One was a young girl with short cropped green hair and a skimpy outfit and the other was a boy with metallic grey hair. His legs seemed to be replaced with artificial ones too. That's all I remember though: I was focused on saving Autumn.'

'I'll take note of those descriptions.' said Goodwitch, pulling out her scroll.

'Ozpin, we may not be absolutely certain, but we can make a fair bet and say that we're all talking about the same person: the Fall Maiden's attackers. We settled on the verdict that the enemies are sharing the same air as us, and the similarities between the Maiden's primary attacker that Qrow intercepted, the woman Ruby and Glynda fought before the academic semester started, and the woman Ruby skirmished with in the CCTS are far too alike for them all to be merely a coincidence and that these three encounters were with three separate women.'

'I agree General, and I think we need to be investigative of the people here in Vale and especially Beacon, but there's still the fact that there's no sign of forced entry.' Ozpin responded. 'Looking at the state of the machine, anyone who managed to take away the Fall Maiden would have had to have known the password.'

'Look people, we need to think about the more pertinent question at hand. We know that Amber's gone. The "how" is a mystery to us, but so is the "where". Qrow interposed.

'The saying is "Run first, ask questions later". We need to reclaim her if we can as soon as possible. We don't want word of the Maidens' existence getting public attention; and if we're convinced that the attacker I saw is here in Beacon, then we must take action.'

'Qrow's right.' said Goodwitch. 'If the Fall Maiden has been captured and her power gets into the wrong hands, then we're in a whole manner of trouble. If it isn't already too late, we need to find her.'

'But first, you always check the crime scene before doing anything else.' said Qrow. 'Let's search every nook and cranny of the vault. Look up, down, left and right. Look for loose panels and leave no stone unturned.'

'Yes, let's do it.' said Ozpin concurringly.

* * *

Ironwood remained in the near vicinity of the comatose machine. Ozpin went towards the elevator to search the entrance. Goodwitch went down the left corridor of the vault and Qrow took the right.

'I found something!' Qrow yelled, his voice reverberating off the walls. Everyone came running to him.

'What have you found?' Glynda asked.

'What's that thing?' he said, pointing to something in the corner wall.

It was alive. It was golden and shiny, with two short stubby legs, no other limbs and a head with two large, white eyes. It was standing idly, looking around. A couple of sounds were coming from it as well. The critter was emitting a very subtle ringing sound, like the chime of a small bell, as well as what sounded like the whisperings of a child.

'Does anyone recognise what it is?' said Ironwood interrogatively.  
Everyone shook their heads.

'We need to grab it.' said Ozpin. He bent over and slowly reached out for the creature.

'Careful Ozpin, we don't know what it is. It could do anything to us.' said Ironwood concernedly.

'I'll be gentle.' He replied calmly. Just as he was about to clasp his hands around it, the creature jumped and ran to the opposite corner and pressed itself against it. It was clearly frightened. 'It's okay little guy.' said Ozpin, putting a smile on his face. 'I'm not here to hurt you.' He went to the corner that the creature just went to and this time laid his hand down on the floor.

The thing went up to Ozpin's hand and appeared to sniff it. After a brief moment of hesitation, the creature stepped onto Ozpin's hand. He gently raised it and held it closer to him so that he could inspect it.

'Maybe we should put it in a cage of some sort.' suggested Ironwood. 'Whatever it is, it could be a clue to where Amber has gone.'

'This _and_ the sparkly, multi-coloured hair you found outside your window.' Goodwitch commented.

'Things are becoming fishier by the minute.' said Ozpin. 'I agree though General that we should look at this thing in more detail. It's quite cute I must admit.'

'And very shiny.' Qrow remarked. 'This thing is certainly a bit too bright to be a naturally occurring.'

'Where should we take it then?' asked Goodwitch.

'I'll keep it on my ship.' Ironwood offered. 'It seems a bit hyperactive, so try not to let go of it. I'll keep it safe and sound, where we can examine it without it running away.'

'How will _analysing_ it bring us closer to Autumn though?' Qrow asked. 'This is the only thing we found. No holes in any wall or way leaving up to the surface. What about the assailant and her two accomplices?'

'We won't ignore them Qrow.' Ozpin reassured. 'However this thing managed to make its way into the vault and we don't even know what it is. If it's some sort of Dust infused imp for instance that can phase through walls and floors, then maybe it'll explain how Amber got out. I know that connecting the dots is going to very hard – and they may not even exist – but that fact that this creature is here means that something is going on which we cannot yet explain, and this _thing_ might be that explanation.'

'Does this have anything to do with the new land that was discovered a few days ago or the second moon?' Goodwitch brought up. 'There seems to be so much unknown phenomena going on at the moment, that maybe this is all coming from the new land which apparently has its own civilisation. We've established that magic is real to some degree. What if this creature is further proof of that?'

'That may be so.' said Ozpin. 'General, you get your men to analyse this creature.' He handed it over to the Ironwood, who stroked it gently to keep it calm. 'Qrow, you should go around Vale and do some further investigation into the matter of Amber's attackers and potentially try and find one or both of them.'

'And what about you, Oz?'

'I'm going to try and contact the other Kingdoms. Now that the Fall Maiden has disappeared, international communication is essential. The CCTS should be up and running anytime soon.'

* * *

Ozpin was standing up in his office. Goodwitch was with him. She was restless.

'Too much unexplainable stuff has occurred in the past few days.' she said frustrated. 'I've don't think I've ever felt this tense in my life.

'It's alarming for all of us Professor Goodwitch, but we don't just have enemies: we have allies. I lost my composure initially upon seeing Amber gone, but we need to keep calm, otherwise we'll lose focus and our blood pressure will rise. All of this seems supernatural. It feels wrong and foreboding, but there must be some explanation and cause, otherwise this couldn't have happened in the first place. It may take us a while, but we'll get to the bottom of this.'

Goodwitch stared at Ozpin in the eye. She took some slow, deep breathes before saying 'Yes, yes we will.'

Ozpin had been partially lying to himself. He wanted to believe that everything was going to be okay. Years of dealing with the unreal had hardened him to the unbelievable, but he had never even imagined anything on the scale of this unfathomability.


	7. Cosmic Convalescence

**Chapter 7** – Cosmic Convalescence

Amber was travelling on horseback through a straight plain with even grass and a few green trees on either side of the fenced path. It was unfortunate that the grey sky and murky clouds contrasted with the pleasant scenery on the ground, but there was no sign of rainfall yet.  
Her white horse was obedient to her every movement. Whenever Amber sighed, the horse would let loose a soft neigh in following. She was riding incredibly slowly. Maybe it was because the horse was tired. Maybe Amber was simply in no rush whatsoever, but a baby crawling would likely go faster.

She had a swamp coloured hood over her head and only noticed a crying little girl in the path she traversed when her despondency was heard. She had dark turquoise hair and small blue overalls. The child's bike was right beside her. The sobs pierced Amber's magnanimous heart. She got off her horse and took an apple from a pouch. As Amber approached the girl, she whimpered at the sight of the adult looming above her. Amber got down on her left knee and offered the apple to the child and smiled, hoping to wipe to distress clean from her.

It did the trick: the girl reached up to accept the apple.  
Footsteps suddenly sounded behind the girl. Amber could see the dirt moving as though a shoe had been lazily dragged along the floor, but there was no one behind the girl. Something was wrong. An ominous noise was emitted from somewhere in front of Amber and the child disappeared. She jumped back, threw off her hood and pulled out her staff. A young girl, who looked like a teen version of the child she saw, then came running at Amber, firing dual wield pistols at her.  
Amber blocked the incoming bullets with just her aura alone. Taking advantage of the girl with emerald-coloured hair who had to reload, Amber swung her staff like the rudders of a helicopter in her hands and summoned a powerful gust of wind, which she sent at the deceiver. It knocked her back a considerable distance, but she managed to keep her feet on the ground.

A new aggressor approached from the field on Amber's right. He was young like the emerald-haired girl, but had grey hair and a set of black and orange trousers to go with his grey zip-up top. He jumped onto the wooden fence and leaped ferociously towards Amber.  
She gasped but managed to turn her spear just in time to shield herself from the grey attacker who had tried to kick her with both of his feet. As she repelled him, she noticed how heavy his legs were.  
Amber pre-empted the emerald-haired girl from striking again and she turned her staff around, summoning more gusts of wind to keep her at bay. The grey-haired boy propelled himself from the corner of the fence with tremendous force. He went rocketing towards his target. Amber turned to face him and fired a burst of flames from the tip of her staff. He curled up into the foetal position to partially protect himself from the oncoming fire. He emerged from the flames with fierce determination. He looked unharmed by the flames. Only his trousers had disintegrated to reveal that he had mechanical legs. The grey-haired boy kicked Amber directly in the chin and she was sent backwards, landing on her back. The emerald-haired girl jumped forcefully onto Amber's front and leaped off to stand next to her associate. They stood posed, ready to strike and continue their assault.

Amber's eyes glowed with anger. A tornado consumed the three of them and Amber rose up, levitating in the air. Nature and weather were at her fingertips. She summoned lightning bolts and sent them towards her assailants. Though she smit with great accuracy, they were quick on their feet and were able to leap out of the way.  
The grey-haired boy shot a blast of energy from his boot and the emerald-haired girl shot her dual wield pistols at the Maiden. Her aura was a literal force field and the projectiles did nothing to her.  
She picked up leaves from the ground and trees around her with just her mind. She froze them into tiny razor daggers and sent them like a hailstorm of arrows at the assaulters. The emerald-haired girl, with her bare skin was caught in the shower and cried out in pain. The grey-haired boy went into the foetal position again and used his mechanical legs to protect his body.

They were preoccupied with her telekinetic resistance. Amber had time to look around and see what else she could use to deter the assailants from attacking her any further. Amber looked down on the trail in front of her. A lady was running towards her. She had shoulder black length hair and wore a detailed red dress. Somehow she was running in heels.

Amber sent a projectile of fiery ashes at what she presumed was an accomplice of the two she was already dealing with. The lady sprang over the fireball as it hit the ground. She merged the scattered ashes from Amber's fireball and turned them into shards of igneous rock and sent them flying towards the Maiden. She fell out of the sky onto her front and looked up. The three assailants were gone. But then she saw the emerald-haired girl materialise a few metres in front of her. Then the grey-haired boy did too and so did the lady with the red dress right after. She ran at Amber with frightening speed and engaged in close quarters combat with two short metal swords. Amber parried the lady's blades with her arms and kicked her in the face away from her. The other two attempted to fight Amber. Though they were skilled, the Maiden was able to handle both of them at once. Only the grey-haired boy was able to land a kick to Amber's chin, which did nothing at all.

Whilst she was distracted, the lady with the red dress merged her blades together to form a bow. She sent three arrows at Amber's feet. After a brief delay, they exploded, catching the Maiden in a blast of intense flames. She screamed and fell to her hands and knees. Here aura was low and she gasped for air and energy.  
The three attackers approached her slowly, assuming that she had given up, but Amber swung her right arm in front of her and sent a blast of powerful wind to knock the three of them back. They landed on their feet, but Amber stood back up immediately and sent a bolt of lightning at the grey-haired boy and a fireball at the emerald-haired girl.  
The three of them were now on the floor. Amber picked up her staff and used it to keep herself from falling over. She was devitalised and held her side as she limped over to the emerald-haired girl. Amber glared at her with contorted anger and raised the staff to impale her through the head.

But then she felt an extremely sharp burst of pain wash over her entire body. The red dressed lady had shot an arrow directly into her back. Amber toppled to the ground. She was no longer able to fight. The grey and emerald-haired attackers held her arms outwards and placed a foot on her back so that she couldn't resist. The lady with the red dress walked up to Amber, with a malicious smirk. She had put on a long white glove on her right arm. She held her hand close to Amber's face and a parasite crawled its way out of her palm.

'Please don't…' Amber begged. She had fought her hardest and had outclassed all three of them, but even an elephant is overwhelmed by a pack of lions. The Fall Maiden could only do so much against three formidable combatants with excellent coordination.  
The parasite latched onto Amber's face and covered her left eye. As it did, her right one lit up and she could feel her powers being sapped from her very body and soul. It was being transferred into the lady. Her consciousness was fading.

The agony burned and gripped its grave fist tightly around her heart. It squeezed hard and ruptured the fibre of her being. The deprivation of life transcended to her throat and began to choke her too. This was it. Amber was helpless and could only accept her defeat.

She released one more scream.

It was over.

It was over.

It was over…

And then she woke up.

* * *

Her eyes were wide with panic. Amber had relived her encounter with Emerald, Mercury and Cinder in a nightmare: for the first time in fact since she entered a coma. She had no idea that she had been rescued at the very last second by a Huntsman. She also had no idea where she was right now and what had happened to the three she had tried her best to vanquish them.

Amber ached all over. She felt weak and was unable to sit upright. She moaned at the persisting soreness. Her eyes were bleary and she could feel the sting where the parasite had covered her left eye. Amber blinked multiple times to try and refocus her vision. Looking directly upwards, she could see stone above her. Rolling her head to the left confirmed that she was in a cave of some sort. A little bit of light was being fed into the cave. Dawn was encroaching. A few birds chirped from the outside and their pleasant harmonies also found their way into the cave. Her head lay on a soft pillow and, although she couldn't see it, a soft mattress of some sort was placed below her.

It was hard, but Amber began to analyse her surroundings more. Inspecting the right, she saw three disks with a glowing orb of light above each one. Looking down at her body, she saw that she was covered in a dark red blanket. Upon seeing it, Amber immediately began to shake. The colour reminded her of the lady who had tried to kill her.  
She saw the evil grin of the lady and the creepy parasite come out of her hand again. 'Ahh!' Amber cried out. Though initially losing her serenity, she took deep breaths and told herself that it was just a blanket. 'It's just a blanket. It's just a blanket…' she whispered.

Returning to the imminent concern, she wondered where on Remnant she was. Being too weak to even attempt to go outside, a small pessimistic part of her thought that she was dead. The lady had taken her powers and had lost total awareness before the process had been completed. Maybe this was heaven and she was recuperating. If she had a new, spiritual body though, how come she was so sore? _'No, this can't be the answer.'_ she thought to herself. _'I somehow survived the attack from those three.'_ But where was she then? Nothing added up. What were those little pads with orbs of light above them? Was she in Mistral? The chirp of the birds seemed very Amina-like.

A figure unexpectedly appeared at the mouth of the cave. Amber instantly assumed that the person was a threat. She retreated under the blanket and hoped that whoever it was would leave her alone.

'Oh, you're awake.' said the person. It was a female.

'D-don't hurt me.' Amber whimpered.

'I'm not here to hurt you.' said the woman. Her voice was oddly soothing.

Hesitantly, Amber pulled the blanket down from her face so she could see who the woman was. Amber was initially frightened, but had learned not to judge people entirely based on their looks. Her voice was enough reason to believe that she was not Amber's enemy.  
She had purple skin and lips, completely yellow eyes, long white hair and wore an orange dress and a dark red cape, similar to the one of her blanket. What was most striking about her though was the horn sticking out of her head. She also had a few tattoos on her arms and thighs. Amber mustered enough strength rise and look at the woman's feet. She had hooves.  
Was she a Faunus? The horn and hooves implied that she was, but no Faunus that Amber had ever seen had purple skin. Unsure of what to say, she remained silent.

The purple woman sat cross-legged on the floor by Amber's right side. 'How are you feeling?' she asked.

'Terrible…' Amber replied. I ache everywhere…'

'Please, don't move: you need to rest.' said the purple woman. 'Wait here.' She went outside the cave and came back after a minute with a clay mug and a plate. The mug was filled with water and the plate had a sandwich on it. The purple woman placed it next to Amber and resumed her cross-legged position. 'You don't have to eat it now, but you do need food and water.'

Amber wasn't sure what to say. She was confused and unsure of anything but was at least grateful for this woman's seeming kindness. 'A-are you a doctor?' she eventually said.

'I guess you could say that, but I'm more of a protector than anything else.'

'O-okay. Where am I?' she then asked.

'We're in Ionia, just outside the Placidium of Navori.'

Amber had no idea where that was. 'Ionia?' she repeated.

'Yes. The continent of Ionia, just off the mega continent of Valoran.'

'I-I've never heard of these places.' said Amber.

'Oh…' said the purple lady. 'You must come from the new world then.'

'I'm sorry. I'm not meaning to be stupid on purpose, but I seriously don't know what you're talking about.'

'I think you've been in a coma for a long time.' said the lady. 'A few days ago, about three maybe, I sensed something in the stars and a shift in the cosmos. I think that we come from two separate planets that have merged together somehow. I'm an alien to you. The world has gotten bigger and the days and nights have been extended in length. You weren't awake to witness it happening, I guess.'

Amber made no response. The idea sounded almost impossible to believe, but the sight of this strange lady and the term "alien" definitely made it seem plausible.

'Do you remember your name?' said the purple lady.

'Amber. If you don't mind me asking, what's yours?'

'My name is Soraka.' she replied.

Soraka brought some more pillows from outside the cave so that Amber could sit up and eat. Soraka held the mug to Amber's mouth. She took a sip. The water tingled slightly and felt revivifying.  
'It's… nice water.' Amber commented with a weak smile.

'It's from the Whispering River, which is connected to the coastal region of the Azure Farms. Here in Ionia, humans and wildlife have a strong connection with nature and magic. Sustenance is a lot more organic and pure than in other parts of the world.' Soraka explained.

'That's lovely.' said Amber. 'I'm one of the few magic users of my world. Most Kingdoms are concerned with science and technology.'

'There are regions here that are like that too.' said Soraka. 'Ionia happens to be an exception to that general rule of science before nature and religion. My home is in Mount Targon, where celestials and worship are the core lifestyle of virtually all its inhabitants. '

'You and me both then.' Amber chuckled.

'Indeed.' Soraka replied, returning the friendly smile.

Amber then took a bite out of the sandwich Soraka had given her. It was absolutely delicious. It was completely vegetarian, but had a pleasant sweetness to it as well. 'Thank you.'

'It is my duty to protect those who are injured and in need.' said Soraka emphatically. 'I cannot live with myself if a beautiful soul perishes when I could've done something to help. It's a pleasure for me to rescue a woman like you.'

'That's most gracious of you, Soraka.' said Amber with a tear in her eye. She munched on the sandwich until it was gone.

'So, Soraka, can you please tell me more about where I am and how I got here?' Amber asked.

'Umm… in truth, I don't know _how_ you got to Ionia.' said Soraka. 'I found you on the outskirts of the Weh'le, which is on the south coast of the island. I took you further away from it to the Placidium, because it is a better environment to recover in, unlike a rocky coastline, and we are closer to resources from here. You were in a coma. I'm not sure how long for, but you were unresponsive when I saw you. The Great Caretaker: Bard miraculously came to see me and led me to you.'

'Bard?' Amber repeated.

'Oh, yes: Bard is a cosmic entity that travels the universe. His only goal seems to be to protect the universe from total destruction. He doesn't talk, but he came to me and signalled that I was to follow him. You see those disks with light over there?' said Soraka, pointing to them.

'I did see them.' Amber replied.

'They're not lamps, believe it or not.' Soraka chuckled. 'Bard left those here for you to use. They're called "Caretaker Shrines". I've never used them myself, but apparently if you step on them, your vitals will be restored instantly. You just need to get your strength back before you can walk.'

Soraka stood up and went to an alcove in the cave next to Bard's shrines. She came back with a staff that was about the same size as Amber's own one, which she now noticed was missing, but decided it was the least of her concerns at the moment. Soraka's staff had a moon at the end of it with written text that Amber could not read, as well as a red jewel on the bottom.  
'I use this to heal those with wounds.' said Soraka 'I have never encountered wounds as deep as yours though and I've only been able to partially restore your health. If Bard's shrines do not heal you properly, I don't know what will.'

'What do you mean?' asked Amber.

'Something unnatural has harmed you. There are some markings on your face: mostly on the left side. It's like something blazingly hot was placed there and etched its way in. I also sense that some of your inner life force is missing. Some of the magic that resided in you is gone…'

'G-gone?' said Amber. 'Oh, no…' she then whispered.

'What's the last thing you remember before waking up here?' asked Soraka.

Amber thought back to her fight with the girl with emerald hair, the boy with grey hair and the woman who had attempted to take her powers from her. At the thought of it, Amber began to cry. Soraka placed her staff down and sat on the cave floor, stroking Amber's head. 'There, there.' She said in as calming a voice as she could make.

'I… I… I was ambushed by these three people. They wanted my powers…'

'Your magic?'

'Yes. I fought them off the best I could, but I eventually couldn't keep up with them. This lady with a devilish stare summoned an insect that protruded out of her hand. It attached itself to my face and I felt my powers draining. There was nothing I could do. I felt like I was about to die!' Amber sniffled.

'I bet that you feel traumatised after that.' said Soraka sympathetically. Amber nodded and Soraka continued to stroke her hair. 'Part of your magic still remains though, so the thieves didn't get all of your powers.'

'How come though?' said Amber inquiringly. 'I was completely helpless…'

'There are two possibilities then. Either the theft was terminated early, or you were saved by something or someone. Maybe Bard was travelling through your own world and found you.'

'If he did, then I am ever grateful towards him.' said Amber, wiping away the tears in her eyes.'

'His magic is beyond most people's comprehension. He's the caretaker of the universe, after all.'

'Can I meet him?' Amber asked.

'I doubt he would care.' Soraka replied apologetically. 'Like I said, he doesn't speak. He also doesn't care at all about whether or not his work is recognised. He just does what he does.'

'Where did he go when he left me here though?'

'Probably for a journey across the world. I conjecture that he saw our two planets merge and was instantly worried about it. If Bard is, he'll be putting everything that is out of balance straight again; or at least he'll be attempting to.'

Soraka brought Amber another sandwich and more water. They were just as pleasurable as they had been earlier. 'Soraka, thank you so much for taking care of me.' said Amber. 'I will be forever grateful and in debt to you because you saved my life.'

'There is no debt to be paid, Amber. Seeing the revitalised faces of those who were poorly is reward enough for me.'  
They smiled both smiled. Amber sat up and they hugged each other.

'Do you have a family or people to take care of?' said Soraka curiously.

'Not anyone in particular. I'm mostly a lone wolf, but I have a duty as a Maiden.'

'A Maiden? Please, tell me more.'  
'There are four Maidens in my world that watch over the seasons of Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Every time one dies, their power is given to a new host. I am the current Fall Maiden and I must ensure that my world is safe. I've let my power fall into the wrong hands.' Amber paused, realising that, even if she was restored to full health, part of her power was still lost. 'I need to go back to my world. I can't let that… _witch_ use that power for wrong.'

'I understand Amber, but you can't go anywhere in the state that you're in.' Soraka insisted. 'Even if you were, we have no idea how to get back to your world from here. Would you even be able to actually get the power back if you encounter her?'

'Even if I can't, I can stop her before she has a chance to use it.'

'Is there anyone else that could face her back at home?' Soraka questioned.

'There… are. In my world, many people are trained to become Huntsmen and Huntresses: who perfect the art of combat and dedicate their lives to protecting humanity.'

'Could they handle the lady with your powers until you can return? What about the other Maidens?'

'We four Maidens don't work together. I actually have no idea who they are. As for the Huntsmen and Huntresses, they could deal with her, but they don't know what Maidens are capable of quite like I do. That lady was already powerful without my magic. I can only imagine how devastating she'll be if hers and mine combined…'

'Well, until we can figure out how to get back to your world, please stay here and get better. It'll give you a chance to explore places you've never been to. What is your world like? Does it have a name?' Soraka suddenly queried.

'We call our planet "Remnant". It's called that because it is viewed that the state the planet is currently in is merely the remains of creation and what happened before the two god brothers made everything. Humans and all other fauna and are just "remnants" of the past.'

'Interesting.' said Soraka. 'Can you tell me anything else?'

'There are four primary Kingdoms with their own central governments and four major continents. Each one has their own culture and way of doing things. What about this planet?'

'We call our planet "Runeterra". It means "Magic Earth". Ionia is one small continent that differs heavily from the major continent of Valoran, which has many different regions and states. There's also this place called the "Shadow Isles", but it's cursed by evil sorcery that turns everyone standing on it into the undead. It can't be saved.'

'I see.' said Amber. 'It looks like both Remnant and Runeterra have some fascinating geography.

'And fascinating history as well I'm guessing.' Soraka commented.

The two of them remained in the cave for the remainder of the morning, talking about their respective worlds' histories, cultures and other subject matter that typically provokes discussion.  
'Before you go back to Remnant, do you want to visit other parts of Runeterra?' Soraka asked. The chances of two planets coming together, where both inhabitants speak the same language is an extreme rarity. The chances must be less than one in a trillion. It would be a chance you might never have again. Ionia is an especially beautiful land. You will absolutely love it.'

Amber thought to herself about the idea. She was extremely worried about the woman who had stolen her power and the very state of Remnant as a whole, but she had been graced with solace in Soraka's care and thought that it would be unfair if Amber were to simple abandon someone who might be slowly becoming a friend. 'Yes, I would. Ionia and Valoran seem like very interesting places.'

'I'm glad to hear it.' said Soraka enthusiastically. 'There are some places we should stay clear of, but I have been to Ionia enough to make sure we're perfectly safe and even welcomed by the places and people we encounter.'

Soraka told Amber that she needed to get some more sleep. Even though she was wide awake and anxious, Amber soon fell asleep and Soraka found a plank of wood to put in front of the cave entrance to stop the light of daytime from coming through. Making sure that Amber was safe and that no Ionian wildlife would interrupt her sleep, Soraka then went outside to make more sandwiches for her patient and new friend.


	8. Mercurial Loss

**Chapter 8** – Mercurial Loss

It was time.  
It was time for the most heart-pumping part of the tournament. So far it had not been called off.

Professor Port and Dr Oobleck were commentating once again. 'Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for: The one on one finals!' Port's voice echoed across the whole of Remnant. Originally, the first fight in the Singles was scheduled to take place in the evening, but was now being held in broad daylight after the cycle of day and night had been altered.  
This meant that far more people were watching. Almost every seat inside the Amity Colosseum was occupied. The crowd cheered ecstatically.

In the ring, eight combatants, who had been elected by their teams to represent them in the finals, stood in a horizontal line.

'Barty, why don't you explain the rules?' said Port.

'Uhh, it's quite simple Peter. Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place.' he said rapidly and energetically.

'Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare.'

'Ahh, yes, yes. Now let's see who our first match will be!'

The randomiser began scrolling through the eight competitors. Families, friends, workers, students and all of the above had their fists clenched in anticipation of who the first two were going to be to duel it out.  
The first to be selected was Mercury Black, and the second right after was Yang Xiao Long. 'Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black!' Port announced.

In the front seats, Ruby shouted 'Break a leg, sis!'

'Would all other combatants please leave the stage?' Port ordered. This time, there were no environmental biomes, but instead just a small elevated platform. The rest of the stage pulled away and collapsed downwards. This meant that falling off the smaller platform would mean defeat.

Yang and Mercury faced the audience before turning towards each other.

'You better not go easy on me.' said Yang confidently.

'Huh, you wish.' Mercury retorted.  
They stood with their knees bent and put their arms up in a defensive position. As Port was counting down, they edged closer to each other.

'Three! Two! One! Fight!

* * *

Mountain Glenn was an old expansion of Vale that had been overrun by the Creatures of Grimm, due to the lack of natural barriers that other regions in Vale had. It was gradually becoming more and more infested by them. The dark and depressing setting naturally drew them closer, even though it was uninhabited by people.  
It was only until not so long ago that people set foot in Glenn for the first time in years. Team RWBY and Dr Oobleck had gone on a mission of reconnaissance and discovered the White Fang and Roman Torchwick operating in the underground subway. Subsequently after openings had been made in Central Vale via the bomb scheme, Grimm had been able to enter the city and reek calamity. Thanks to Professor Goodwitch's extremely useful Semblance to manipulate solid objects and restore broken structures, no more Grimm had been able to do so. Nothing had happened in Glenn since then.  
Until now.

A rift began to open just outside a derelict building. Grimm in the immediate area saw the portal opening. They sensed emotions: extremely negative ones coated in dejected misery, and were enticed to them.  
Standing where the portal had just been was a man. He wore tatty grey trousers, but no shirt and carried a massive scroll in a kit bag on his back. What was most striking about his appearance though was his entirely blue and violet skin with runes tattooed across his body. Even his beard and eyes were blue.

* * *

Yang yelled as she let loose a punch that made direct contact with Mercury's kick. He was knocked back ever so slightly but landed on his feet, quickly ran towards Yang and attempted to do a leap kick. Yang did a front flip over Mercury and shot a blast from her Ember Celica. Mercury dodged the point blank shot with unbelievable quickness. The two then exchanged fists, using their elbows to block the incoming strikes. Three swings were delivered before both shot the other away with their weapons.

Mercury gave Yang a smug look and effortlessly stepped aside from five consecutive shots from her gauntlets. He jumped high into the air and attempted to kick Yang into the ground. She used her arms to block Mercury's incredibly heavy boots. He used his other leg on the floor to leap off the ground and dodge another shot from Yang. It was unreal how quickly Mercury could kick and swing his feet. Almost instantly, he swung his right foot upwards and kicked Yang in the chin. She was sent up into the air. Both managed to not fall over and continued to fight. It was almost like a dance with how fast they were moving and how oddly stylish their moves were. Clearly Ozpin had been right when making that comment at the Beacon dance.

The force of Mercury's boots shattered the ground as he attempted to bludgeon Yang's head, but she moved out of the way just in time. Mercury was exposed and ate a punch to the chin and a blast to his groin. He slide of his front and managed to stand up just in time to evade Yang's shots at the floor. The radius of one of them managed to send Mercury off the ring, but he used a shot from his boots to propel himself back to safety.

The Huntress was stunned by her opponent's cunning strategy and resolve. The boy was quick on his feet and delivered kicks so fast that Yang could not counter all of them. Each one felt like a rock. One kick to the face sent her a quarter of the way across the ring.

Now that distance had been made, Mercury began to shoot blasts of energy from his boots numerous times into the air in a circle. Yang tried to intercept him, but Mercury was prepared. He blocked all, except the initial one, of Yang's strikes and once again kicked her high up into the air. With exceptional grace, he followed up and jumped high enough so that he could kick Yang directly in the head and sent her down to the floor again. As he made the crowd's jaws drop at his flashy fighting style, he finished the performance by sending all the shots he had fired into the air down towards Yang on the ground. As they made impact, the shots dispersed and made a gush wind around Yang that blocked her from view. Mercury stood up, walked away conceitedly and wiped away the non-existent dirt off his clothes.

He had won.

* * *

Ryze took in his surroundings and immediately saw the Grimm running towards him. On instinct he fired comets of arcane energy at the onslaught of soulless beasts. Each one was propelled back with tremendous force. The Creeps were obliterated by Ryze's overwhelming power, but the larger species put up more of a fight. Boarbatusks were able to withstand some of Ryze's magic, as well the Beowolves, but it made no difference to Ryze: he had mastered the use of runic magic centuries ago.  
One particularly large Beowolf came charging at him. Ryze then conjured a spell to root it in place whilst focusing his offensive spells onto the smaller Grimm. As they all dissolved, Ryze then unleashed a wild surge of arcane magic at the big Beowolf. It roared in anger but quickly turned to smoke.

The Rune Mage saw an opening in an unoccupied building and rushed towards it. He gaged quickly that the beasts he had just fought were hostile creatures that were not just typical predatory animals, but he did not know the reason why they had been so aggressive to his sudden appearance.

The Creatures of Grimm are lured by and are attracted to negative emotions. Ryze was the quintessential carrier of everything despairing. Ryze was capricious, temperamental, easily agitated and cranky, but if you had seen the horrors he went through for over one thousand years, how could one blame him for his uncharismatic attitude.  
Ryze had an overwhelming duty and burden to ensure that the world was not destroyed by the World Runes: tangible runes that possess devastating power when used destructively. From his youth, Ryze grew up with a master of arcane magic and he quickly learned of the existence of rune magic and arcane forces. His master, Tyrus, had attempted to keep knowledge and awareness of the World Runes blighted from memory, but the inevitability of people finding out about the World Runes' existence was only prolonged moderately. The precedent was set when the first uses of the World Runes were to shape the very landscapes of Runeterra itself, Tyrus and Ryze dedicated their lives to quell paranoia and retrieve the World Runes to prevent disaster.

But alas, two warring nations came to possess runic weapons and both accused the other of plotting against them. Tyrus and Ryze could not reason with the two nations and had to flee. Whilst not caught in the line of fire, the two mages saw the land torn apart and lives annihilated. The Rune Wars began and centuries of conflict commenced.  
As time went by though, Tyrus saw potential in using the World Runes as means to an end. It was gradual but pernicious: Ryze's beloved master was turning into the kind of man that the two of them had sworn to stop. He was corrupted and Ryze had no choice but to kill his friend and wear the scroll himself: reasoning had been futile.  
Any other friend that Ryze had attempted to make had been taken from him. He had been carrying out his onerous duty for over one thousand years to protect humanity from the World Runes. Ryze had felt anguish, seen people he cared about perish, witnessed death, killed innocent people regretfully, enduring long hardships, received physical, magical and emotional pain, been close to death hundreds of times, and had still not had a day of rest since he began to wear the scroll of runes on his back.

But most traumatic of all: Ryze had been reincarnated four times in his life. There were four separate occasions where he died in a miserable state and was reborn again through an agonising process where the gods dismantled him, only to send him back to Runeterra so that he could continue with his obligation of protecting the world. Whilst in the colloquial sense, they were known as "reincarnations", the technical term for them is "reworks".

 **Just Kidding!**

Centuries of continuous tribulations had wiped his face clean of all happiness, but despite all the pessimistic attributes of Ryze, no one could deny his reputation as a highly skilled mage and that he was the closest thing you could get to a worldwide humanitarian.  
Ryze was astute and knew through reasoning and awareness when something was awry. The days and night were longer. One thousand years of living was more than enough time and experience to know the exact moment the sun will breach the horizon and the exact moment the sun will disappear from view.

The Rune Mage went outside of the building and had a better look around. The abandoned city was like nothing he had seen before and correlated with no place in Runeterra he knew. It seemed highly unlikely, but Ryze's gut feeling told him that he was on an entirely new planet, yet he was not too far away from home. It was as though his home planet and an entirely different one had been stuck together to form a larger planet. It was beyond even the whole collection of the World Runes to do something as unbelievable as merging two planets into one, but Ryze could not ignore the evidence presented in front of him. Something else must've been at work.  
But even if his theory was correct, for what reason had he warped to the new planet? It wasn't like a World Rune would be found there. His answer lay in his senses. This planet had magical ubiquity. It was similar to that found in Ionia and Targon, but there was something distinct about the magic here.

Ryze ran across the city – killing more Grimm along the way - until he came to its border, which overlooked a natural landscape of grass and shallow mountains. In the skies, there was a floating object that looked like a giant UFO. 'Yes, it's definitely that way.' he said in his coarse, grouchy voice. It most likely wasn't a World Rune, but it was something with nearly identical power. Perhaps an object of some sort, or perhaps a relic. It was no real business of Ryze to interfere with this world and its matters, but so long as this planet was attached to Runeterra, his responsibilities had doubled. Ryze looked north towards the destination he had never seen before and journeyed forward in search of something that may not bare any importance to his mission. Power or no power: Ryze had to be sure that it was in safe hands.

* * *

It was not over. Yang's Semblance was triggered. A burst of flames erupted around her. Yang's eyes were red with anger and she threw her entire will at Mercury. His cocky swagger was instantly replaced with nervousness. He managed to block one blast from Yang's gauntlets, but missed two of his kicks and Yang then proceeded to punch Mercury with far more force than she could have done without her Semblance. They were relatively slow, but hit harder than a runaway truck carrying a Goliath Grimm. Nine direct punches in combination with shots from her gauntlets and Mercury's Aura shattered.

He crumpled to the floor and the buzzer sounded. 'What a way to kick off the finals!' Port exclaimed. The crowd cheered and as Yang regained her calmness, she punched the air with her right arm victoriously.

'Yang Xiao Long wins!' Oobleck announced.

'Better luck next time.' said Yang in a cocky tone.

But no one could have anticipated what happened next. Seemingly without reason, Yang turned back around and punched Mercury in the leg. The crowd instantly began to boo and gasp. Mercury fell back to the floor and clutched his leg in supposed pain, as though it was completely broken. Yang looked at Mercury in disgust, like he was the one who had lashed out first.

'Ah! My leg! My leg!' Mercury cried out.

'That's what you get you little – huh?' Yang was surrounded by the Atlesian security personnel.

They pointed their guns at her. 'Yang Xiao Long, stand down!' they ordered.

She looked around, completely baffled. 'What?! Why?!' she exclaimed.

Emerald came down to the stage to help her friend.

'Why'd she do that?! Why'd she attack me?!' Mercury wailed as Emerald came to help him.

She glared at the now dejected Yang who had no idea what was going on.

She looked up to the big screen to see the replay. She had turned around and punched Mercury in the leg gratuitously.

Yang began to cry. Even though the evidence and witnesses were against her, she knew in her heart that what had actually transpired was not what she had seen and not what she had meant to do.

* * *

Ryze looked back to Mountain Glenn as he jogged through the field.

The Grimm were following him.


	9. Ezreal's New Challenge

**Chapter 9** – Ezreal's New Challenge

The delayed sunrise shone over Piltover: the City of Progress. It was known for its thriving market; huge influence in trade and commerce over Valoran; continuous scientific advancement; distinct lack of crime and infraction; multicultural society and overwhelming happiness levels. The chances were that if you were born in Piltover, your family history would be interlinked with the aristocratic nobility, artisans of science or art and highly intelligent economists who probably were on good terms with non-corrupt Zaunites.  
Although it is arguable that Zaun lay the foundations for Piltover to grow to the alpha city it was, the City of Progress literally stands high over Zaun by a large cliff. It was the desire of many from Zaun and other regions in Valoran to become expatriates in Piltover's first-world settlement.

Like in all developed countries, there were families who were famous by name alone. Clan Merada were known for hosting a convention call "Progress Day" where aspiring craftsmen and craftswomen would line up inside the Merada's ostentatious mansion and display their hextech and techmaturgical inventions, hoping to impress the family with their unique designs, which could potentially make its way into Piltovan markets, along with the inventor gaining fame, wealth and reputation.

But outside of the annual Progress Day, every other day of the year ran like clockwork, guided by the massive clock-tower next to the Ecliptic Vaults – Piltover's securest bank – and the Piltovan Treasury on Sidereal Avenue.

Jago Merada was sitting on the balcony of his mansion. As the head of the Merada Clan, Jago held the responsibility of maintaining their pride. As was the case in Piltover, there were rival families with similar prestigious involvement in the hextech market. The Ferros Clan, headed by the only surviving child of Rhodri and Gemma Ferros: Camille – known as the "Gray Lady" – worked with rare hextech crystals harvested from Shurima. Clan Cadwalder was another reputable family of engineers known for their contributions to locomotives in Piltover.

Jago's wife was inside, who had been wide awake before dawn and was almost falling asleep. She had not acclimatised to the sudden five hour extension of the day. Virtually no one in Piltover had for that matter. The issue had been recognised by the council but no action had been taken yet. The ordeal was so sudden that all daily work and programmes of a regular working day had come to a screeching halt. This included the Merada's industry of hextech machinery production.

The reasons for the sun's sudden deceleration, as well as the appearance of a second shattered moon was beyond explanation as of right then. The expectations of sea levels rising and tides becoming more ferocious were not met either. There had to be a reason for why the seas were not behaving abnormally in spite of the new moon, but years of scientists studying physics and marine oceanography would've said that what was seen now would be a near impossibility.

Jago's butler came onto the balcony. 'Excuse me, Mr Merada. You've been sent a letter.'

'If it's about business enquiries, write back to them on my behalf, saying that I'll meet them in two days' time.'

'It's not from any artisan or business, Sir. It's from Mayor Vincent.'

'The Mayor of Piltover?'

'Yes, Sir.'

'Alright then, hand it over.' he demanded.  
The butler held the letter in the palm of his hand for his master to pick up delicately.  
'Oh, and give me a refill of lemonade.' he added, pointing at the empty glass on the circular table next to him.

'Of course, Sir.' said the Butler subserviently. He picked up the glass and walked back into the mansion.

Jago put on his reading glasses and began to read the letter.

 _Dear Mr J. Merada,_

 _As you may well know, the City of Progress is currently at a standstill, for the first time in history, ever since the sun has seemingly slowed down. Schedules have been delayed and the market is at risk of stagnating._

 _As things seem so far, any minor business on the free market is vulnerable to a crash. In turn, as I'm sure a businessman like yourself could deduce, as smaller stockholders lose money, so do the bigger ones that provide for the smaller ones and the shareholders. If the daily cycle is not fixed, or at least adapted to suit the abrupt change in day and night, then Piltover will suffer from an economic bust and will have a drastically negative impact on the rest of Valoran. This includes the city of Demacia, Bel'Zhun, Bilgewater, Dudtown, Ironwater, Rokrund and a myriad of other regions who are contingent on our exports._

 _As this issue is apropos to you and your family, I am inviting you to a meeting at the Grand Court Hall in Horologica Avenue in thirty three hours (assuming that you receive this telegram within three hours of me having sent it)._

 _At this conference, we will discuss a few pertinent issues. We will discuss the future for Piltover's working hours, communication between other regions and how they will reorganise their respective daily routines – so that Valoran may come to a universal agreement on how the economic cycle will operate – and finally an exploration scheme to investigate the earthquakes that occurred across the eastern seas._

 _Word has travelled from Bandle City that a Yordle pilot was sent on a survey mission across the eastern seas and discovered a new continent that should otherwise have been leading up towards western Valoran. Instead, the Yordle pilot reports that he flew over the edge of the continent and saw a civilisation that does not correlate with any already known region in Runeterra.  
Bandle City have suggested that this new land would be an opportunity for new trade routes to be opened overseas, or potentially for it to be colonised. Nothing has been decided, but I intend to resolve some of the problems that confront us right now. _

_If I can have your word that you are coming to the meeting in Horologica Avenue soon, then I would greatly appreciate it and I look forward to discussing the future of Piltover with you._

 _Take care and I look forward to hopefully seeing you soon._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Mayor B. Vincent_

Jago read through the letter two more times, scrutinising each word. He was wary around the council, since he ran a free market and firmly believed that it was no real business of the state what he did with his earnings. Of course he could not deny the Mayor's sound logic in what he had written, but Jago always held suspicion of politicians leeching off of his income to line their own pockets.

Regardless though, he was willing to attend the conference if it was for the betterment of himself and Piltover as a whole.

The butler came back with a full glass of lemonade. 'Here you go Sir.'

'Thank you.' said Jago. 'Oh and please, send a letter back to the Mayor. Just confirm to him that I will be attending the meeting that he has called.'

'Absolutely Sir.' the butler replied.

Jago slumped back in his chair, enjoying the last few hours of sun before going to work.

* * *

There were five hours left until the meeting. Jago had washed himself. Once he had dried, he put on fine crimson red robes, thin white trousers and thoroughly polished black shoes. He had briefly told his wife about the meeting with the Mayor, but was not able to tell her when he would be back. The length of any given conference was unpredictable and depended on how concise the attendants could be in what they said or how much there was to discuss.

He walked out of the large white alabaster doors and stepped into the carriage that would take him towards Southern Piltover which was off the hilly greens of Northern Piltover. Jago was perfectly capable of walking, but like many wealthy men, he could afford to be lazy and not use his legs. The carriage ride by horse was surprisingly smooth down the hill. Maybe the community service team had done some work to rid the pathway of the littered bumps.

Central Piltover was iconic for the beautiful architecture everywhere you looked. Any photograph would make a great postcard. The streets were rather empty in the tardy afternoon daylight. Despite the lack of a cohesive market, purveyors had still set up stalls with their various goods on display, yelling to attract the attention of anyone who strolled by.

A lot of Piltover's attentive citizens could recognise the Merada carriage based on its extravagant design with dark green paint, red wheels, golden plating at the corners and that fact that it was pulled by a snowy white horse.  
The carriage arrived in Horologica Avenue and stopped. The horse rider got down and opened the carriage door for his master. Jago stopped out and looked towards the Grand Court.

'Do you wish for me to stay here?' said the horseman.

'Yes, although I may be in there for a long time.' He pulled out some money from his robes and handed it to the horseman. 'You can go and buy some tisane tea if you wish.'

'Thank you most graciously, Master!' said the horseman gratefully.

Jago opened the doors to the Grand Court. Two men in suits were there to greet him. 'Ahh, Mr Merada, please: come this way.'  
They escorted him up one set of stairs and through a narrow corridor with various rooms on both sides, until they eventually made it to the end of the corridor. Jago was under the impression that he was going to go inside the main double doors to the actual courtroom, but they instead led him through a door on the right. The wallpaper all the way around was a light green colour with a pattern of long green plant stems and red roses at the top. The carpet was a beige colour that contrasted heavily with the colour of the walls. The back wall had a long, rectangular window that looked outwards to the street, however they were tinted, so no one could see inside.

In the centre of the room was a large oval shaped teak wooden table. Seven people were already sitting around it. Three people he recognised, the others he did not. At the end of the table sat the Mayor. He had a black suit, with everything being black except his white shirt. His hair was beginning to whiten, but he still carried a young charisma. He stood up and went to shake hands with the new arrival. 'Mr Merada. It is good to see you!' he said delightfully.

'It is an honour to be in your presence.' Jago returned, albeit less fervently.

The second person he recognised was the head of the Cadwalder family: Egos Cadwalder. He was slightly overweight, and wore similar robes to Jago, only they were royal blue instead of red. He sat closest to the door where Jago had entered.

The third person he knew by name and face was Caitlyn, the most active sheriff in Piltover. She was often referred to as " _The_ Sheriff of Piltover _"_ , although there was another officer siting right next to her. Caitlyn was young and regarded by many as being incredibly good looking. She wore a blue shirt and had her blue hair tied up in a ponytail. Strangely she wore no hat on, which was an iconic fashion choice of hers.  
Caitlyn was often present, along with other wardens, at Jago's mansion during Progress Day. She was in charge of making sure that none of the inventions submitted for judgement were lethal and also sniffing out anyone suspicious. At the previous Progress Day, the last contestant – Tamara Lautari – was discovered to be a Noxian Spy. Caitlyn's meticulous detective skills and thorough attention to detail made her an indispensable asset to Piltover's police department. The second police officer had short brown hair and wore a blue shirt like Caitlyn. The two of them were sat in front of the window.

The remaining three were presumably members of the council, based on their suits. One of them sat beside Caitlyn next to the window, whilst the rest were positioned at the opposite side of the table, next to the Mayor.  
Jago took his place by next to Egos. The two aristocrats held mutual contempt for each other, based on a competitive nature to stand out in the Piltovan market.

Mayor Vincent cleared his throat. 'Thank you all for coming!' he said. 'I think not all of us know each other's names, so let's go around and say them out loud. I'm Mayor Bran Vincent.'  
The order went anticlockwise from the Mayor's position.

'I'm Sam.'

'Varon.'

'Egos.'

'Jago.'

'Mohan.'

'Caitlyn.'

'Jackley.'

'Excellent.' said the Mayor. 'Now, let's get down to business. As we discovered approximately ninety four hours ago, the length of daytime and night-time has somehow increased. We don't know yet by what means. The most likely answer we can say so far is that Runeterra has begun to spin slower on its axis, but further evidence of unusual activity and discoveries could suggest something else entirely.'

'Is this the presence of the second moon in the sky?' Varon asked.

'Yes.' the Mayor confirmed. 'Additionally, oceanographers have observed that there is no change in the behaviour of the seas and the tides. A second moon should have a drastic effect on the waves, but no such difference has been noticed.'

'So what does this mean then?' asked Jackley. 'How can planetary activity like this be explained?'

'I have asked for some astronomers here in Piltover to do some research into Runeterra's cosmological history and study the sky to see if they can decipher what is going on. I'm hoping that we'll get an answer soon.'

Jackley had a notepad and pen in hand. He was the one taking all the notes during the meeting.

'Could you elaborate on the other stuff you mentioned in the letter to me?' Egos ordered.

'Yes, Mr Cadwalder. We detected some severe earthquakes out on the eastern seas. They weren't close enough to affect home, but their sheer power _should_ have created gargantuan tsunamis. As things have turned out, there have been no tsunamis whatsoever. Both this and the unexpected lack of change in the waves. It blows my mind, I tell you.'

'Runeterra got its name for a reason.' Sam commented. '"Magic Earth." It wouldn't be completely against our comprehension for some sort of magic to be at work here.'

'It could be because of the Targonians.' Varon suggested. 'Magic exists in our society. I wouldn't put it past any religious group on Mount Targon to have prayed to their deity and for said deity to have done something to the planet. Isn't there a religious group over there called the "Solari"?'

'There's also the "Lunari".' Caitlyn added. 'There's a religion about the sun and one about the moon'.

'Maybe that's it then. We can point our fingers at the Targonians and say they're to blame for disrupting order in Valoran.' said Varon in a decisive tone.

'No we can't.' said Caitlyn. 'There's not enough evidence for us to point squarely at them and say they're the culprits. Even if we could conclusively say that it was them, the ones responsible for the second moon and the slowing down of the planet's rotation would be the gods. It would be pointless to try and arrest people from a region that's miles away from here – let alone gods.'

'I agree!' said Jago. 'The matter of how this mess happened can wait. Let's talk about the more practical aspect of the situation: how we handle trade and work around twenty nine hour long days.'

'Yes, of course!' said the Mayor. 'How should we approach working hours? If there are about five hours extra per cycle, we need to decide how we distribute those other five.'

'If we're going to figure that out, we first need to establish the starting point of the cycle: when is it the next day?' said Mohan. 'Do we add two hours and thirty minutes to what we consider to be day and night respectively?'  
'Has someone even measured the exact hours of when the sun is risen and when it is down?' asked Sam.

'I received word that, yes, there is approximately two and a half hours extra of sunlight and no sunlight. More specifically, there is an extra two hours and forty one minutes of daytime and two hours and thirty two minutes of night-time: so five hours and thirteen extra minutes in total.' said the Mayor.

'If we work in numbers, then we could add extra hours to the traditional clock of twelve hours A.M and twelve hours P.M.' said Mohan. 'Instead of going up to just twelve O'clock we could go up to fourteen O'clock and a half on each side.'

'But how do we work around those extra thirteen minutes?' Sam asked. 'Where do we shove those in without breaking the consistent cycle of exact time throughout each day?'

'Well thirteen divided by two is six point five. Fourteen hours and thirty minutes plus six minutes and thirty seconds is fourteen hours, thirty six minutes and thirty seconds.'

'But that just sounds awkward.' said Sam responded. 'How do we put that exact time onto an analogue clock? A lot of citizens in Piltover are used to the clock-tower as their guide for the day.'

'Things are awkward enough as it is. What other choice do we have? We can start producing digital clocks with an additional five hours, and thirteen minutes. Whilst there is technically more day than night, we can simplify this as best we can by adding an equal amount of time to A.M and P.M.'

'That sounds like a good idea so far.' said the Mayor. 'We'll be needing a body of people to start producing these clocks then.'

'I can do that for you, Mr Mayor.' Jago and Egos said simultaneously. They glared at each other.

The Mayor chuckled. 'Oh, gentlemen! You're always trying your hardest to outdo each other. The way things are going, we'll probably need as many corporations as we can trying to work on new clocks for everyone, especially if we've going to export them to other regions.'

'But before we do that Mr Mayor, we need to actually come to an agreement that this is going to happen.' Jackley pointed out. 'I suggest that we contact other regions that Piltover has strong economic influence over to make sure that they're in compliance with us.'

'Well yes: absolutely Jackley.' the Mayor responded. 'That's why we're gathered here right now. If we decide collectively that Mohan's idea is the most pragmatic we can come up with, then I will pass on the idea to other regions and see if they're willing to accept it. Assuming they do, I will sign a document which will legally implement this change and then we'll just have to adapt working hours and nonworking hours to a twenty nine hour day cycle.'

'It's worth noting that this will likely cause an economic fall initially.' said Caitlyn. 'This might also encourage crime and theft during these uncertain times.'

'Good point Caitlyn, but as your bright young fellow sheriff has just told us, this is probably the best we can do. You might be on double overtime during these upcoming months, but I have faith in your colleagues that this shouldn't be too much of an issue for a very capable police force. I still shiver when I think about how your girl Vi just smashed her way into the Ecliptic Vault! Oh, it was so awesome!'

Caitlyn shrugged. 'It's just a warning to you, Mr Mayor.' she replied.

'And I greatly appreciate it.' said the Mayor earnestly.

'Is it even worth mass producing so many clocks though?' said Varon. 'We still don't know what caused Runeterra to become like this. What if this new moon and extension of daytime are just ephemeral occurrences? Is it wise to prime the pump into something that might become redundant shortly?'

'That is true,' said the Mayor 'but if an entire moon has just began to orbit Runeterra, which may have affected the rate at which it rotates, it's likely that a planet sized dilemma isn't going away anytime soon.'

'We just need to think about the risks and possible outcomes, Mr Mayor.'

'Yes Varon, but right now the immediate problem that has to be solved is the potential economic crisis. Nothing is certain right now, but we can try our best to make progress. Now then, this leads on to my final point for today: the discovery of a new continent.'

'What do you mean?' asked Jackley.

'As we commenced the meeting, we said the focus had to be on resolving the economic situation, but now we can talk in more detail about what has happened in the rest of Runeterra. I only mentioned it briefly in my letters to Jago and Egos, but I received a message from Bandle City, saying that one of their Yordle pilots went on a scouting mission across the eastern seas to investigate the location where the earthquakes took place. Upon going out there, he discovered a continent that he had never been seen before on Runeterra. He flew over it and his reports say that there were people, but he didn't dare to land on the ground in case they were hostile. What do we say to this _lady_ and gentlemen?' said the Mayor.

Everyone looked around at each other. On top of everything mentioned so far, this was the most unbelievable. Everything else they had seen with their own eyes – the shattered moon and the extension of day and night – but an entirely new continent and civilisation just appearing out of nowhere seemed even more unlikely.  
'You say this report's from Bandle City?' Jago asked.

'It is.' the Mayor confirmed.

'How do we know we can trust Yordles? Humans and Yordles aren't on best terms with each other.'

'What reason would Bandle City have to lie to us: to Piltover? One of our most revered inventors and professors at the College of Techmaturgy – Cecil B. Heimerdinger – is a Yordle. They said that the Yordle pilot is a bit old, but he's also the best that Bandle City have when it comes to air control.'

'Okay, and what use is there for a land that's really far away?' Egos questioned. 'Why are we talking about this?'

'It's the potential for trade routes and gaining new territory. For all we know it might be worth colonising the region. Who knows what we can gain from it?'

'But Mr Mayor, there are so many things that are unclear. We don't for sure if the Yordles are telling the truth; we don't know if there's anything worth going there for; we don't know how potentially dangerous the journey there may be and we don't know if the people there are savages. It takes almost eighteen days to sail from Piltover to Bilgewater. That's a lot of food needed for the captain and the crew. If this is far out at sea and only a plane is able to get there promptly, are we really going to make a move to do something that might be a complete waste of time, money and resources, and at worst could be fatal?' said Varon.

'I didn't say that we were definitely going to try and travel all the way to the new continent, but I just brought up the idea. I'm not going to withhold information or mention it with no reason to do so. Besides, I know someone who would be more than up for the challenge of travelling to a new world.'

'Who..?' asked Sam.

'Why none other than Piltover's Prodigal Explorer: Ezreal!'

'I thought you were going to say it was him…' said Caitlyn.

'He's perfectly suited for the job, Caitlyn! The thrill of the adventure and the unknown is what Ezreal's all about! You have some contact with him right?'

'I do.' Caitlyn replied.

'If I wrote a letter, telling him to come here as soon as possible for a potential exploration mission, would you do that for me, Caitlyn?'

'I don't advocate that you do that Mr Mayor, but if you so wish, I can do so.'

'How marvellous! I think this is all I wanted us to discuss here today. We've figured out a new time system and now we just need to make contact with other regions to see if they'll be in agreement to switch times zones; we've decided that the Merada and Cadwalder Clans – along with others who we can make a deal with – will mass-produce new clocks for everyone; Caitlyn, Mohan and the rest of the police force will be working harder for the next few months as the economy gets itself back in line, so you won't get bored sitting down and eating doughnuts all day. That was a joke!' he said quickly when Caitlyn frowned at him. 'And Ezreal will be serving our city by exploring a never seen before land: potentially finding new trading routes and goods to buy and sell!'

' _If_ Ezreal decides to go through with your somewhat profound request.' Caitlyn remarked.

'Ezreal _might_ be serving our city by exploring a new continent altogether!' he corrected himself. 'Well I think we can say that this meeting is adjourned! Thank you for coming here! Have a fantastic rest of your extended day, and take care!'

The seven other attendants in the room bowed in respect and left the conference room.

Bran Vincent may have been ever so slightly on the immature side, but his charming and relatable nature made him one of the best possible candidates for the Mayor of Piltover. He had been elected for a reason.

* * *

Ezreal was the embodiment of the Spirit of Adventure in Piltover. His parents had been illustrious traders, taking journeys to dangerous, faraway places. During their adventures, Ezreal was left in the care of his spiritless Uncle Lymere: a Professor with little tolerance for Ezreal's passion to follow his parents' footsteps, as well as his unruly behaviour. He enjoying evading authoritative figureheads and messing with them. His awareness of distance and space allowed him to roam wherever he pleased without getting lost, including hidden passages and underground tunnels.

The Professor got tutors to teach Ezreal about techmaturgy, archaeological history and hextech engineering, but his natural gift for absorbing information without revising made excessive studying a waste of time, since the young boy passed tests so easily.

One day, when Ezreal's parents returned from an expedition, they were determined to leave again soon to the Ne'Zuk tomb and find a rumoured magical gemstone that allowed the user to blink from one place to another in a flash.  
Weeks passed after they set out and Ezreal's parents didn't return. Professor Lymere was pessimistic and assumed they were dead, but Ezreal had a spark of hope that they were still alive.

Ezreal collected supplies from the university and set off to Nashramae, Shurima. He uncovered the tomb of Ne'Zuk and set foot inside. The dangers of the catacombs were perilous, but the excitement of freedom pumped adrenaline through the young explorer.  
Upon finding the azure blue gem inside a bronze gauntlet, the temple began to collapse inward. Using the tool he just acquired, he blinked to safety. Ezreal also discovered that the glove could shoot beams of magical light as an offensive weapon: it was the perfect item for his daredevil quests.

Though his mother and father were presumably deceased, Ezreal refused to give up hope. He vowed to continue his parents' legacy by exploring the unknown corners of the world – and possibly make a name for himself. Deep down in his heart he reckoned that if he earned a reputation, his parents would come out of hiding and want to see their son in person again.  
Each mission was saturated with clutch escapes and minimal room for error, lest he die, but his heart lay snuggly in adventuring. No Professor could eviscerate such a vital organ from him.

The Prodigal Explorer was lying on his bed at his Uncle Lymere's house, listening to some funky tunes. He had not done any exploring in a month and had been making money off of selling techmaturgial gizmos of his Uncle, collecting only twenty five percent of the share. His hunger for a new adventure was rumbling and needed to be abated soon.

The doorbell rang. Professor Lymere opened the door. The Sheriff of Piltover was standing outside.

'Is something the matter, Officer?' he asked nervously.

'I have something for Ezreal.'

'What's he done?'

'Nothing. I have a letter for him from the Mayor.'  
Caitlyn handed the Professor a short letter.

'What does the Mayor want with my nephew?'

'Give him the letter for him to read.' Caitlyn said coolly.

Lymere gave his regards to Caitlyn and went upstairs to give Ezreal the message.  
'Hey Ezreal, I've got a letter here for you from the Mayor.'

'The Mayor, you say?' said Ezreal.

'Yes.' Lymere tossed the letter to Ezreal and left without saying another word.

Ezreal opened the envelope and began to read.  
When he had finished, a boundless smile grew on his face.

* * *

The young explorer stood by the docks below the main city. He had supplies of food, clothes, medication, fuel, a survival kit, a fishing kit, a radio and other essentials. The boat he would be sailing was engine powered and had some hextech weaponry too. It was effectively a smaller make of Piltover's warships. A sail could be raised in case he wanted to preserve or ran out of fuel. The Mayor stood by him, along with Sam and Varon.  
'Good luck my boy!' he said rapturously, with his hands on both of Ezreal's shoulders. 'I wish you the best of luck! If you make it there and back, please take some photos and bring us some souvenirs!'

'C'mon Mr Mayor, It's me, I was gonna do that anyway.' Ezreal replied in his typical tongue in cheek manner.

Caitlyn stood by the docks too, her signature hextech sniper rifle was leaning against the concrete wall that covered the cliff face, leading back up to Piltover. Right next to her was a scientist and inventor called Jayce. He was versed in making niche gadgets and had provided some for Ezreal for his quest to the new world.  
The Sheriff walked up to Ezreal. 'Are you sure you want to do this?' she asked.

'Yes!' said Ezreal vehemently. 'This opportunity has _me_ written all over it! You think I would say no to this? Anyway, it's not like you would do it instead.'

Caitlyn fought back the to urge knee him in the groin; Ezreal could be very obnoxious sometimes. 'Very well. Don't do anything awfully stupid, and make sure you look after yourself.'

Ezreal smirked. 'Of course.' he promised. 'I know what I'm doing, because I'm a veteran that actually goes travelling. No need to get your knickers in a twist about me.'  
The explorer climbed onto the boat. 'No applause please.' he said smugly. 'Just doing what's natural.' He waved to everyone standing on the wharf and set sail.

Everyone watched until the boat was a mere speck of dust in the distance.  
The Mayor was in high spirits as he strolled back to his office.

Caitlyn sighed. He would be gone for months and might never return. 'I pray that Janna will be by your side.' she whispered.

* * *

From the ledge high up by the main city, the Aspect of Twilight watched as her crush began his long adventure. She made sure that no one was looking before flying out after him.


	10. Pain

**Chapter 10** – Pain

Two Atlesian Knights stood guard outside Team RWBY's dorm room, one on each side.

General Ironwood had come to see Yang about the controversy with her and Mercury. 'I'm sorry.' he said regretfully. 'But you've left us with no choice.'

'But he attacked me!' Yang persisted, refusing to say that she had attacked without rationale.

'Video footage and millions of viewers say otherwise.' the General said, pacing up and down the room to avoid making too much eye contact in this awkward situation that he did not want to be in.

'But Yang would never do that!' Weiss insisted.

'Yeah!' Ruby agreed, standing up.

Yang put her head in her palms. How could she get through to the General that she genuinely saw Mercury attack her?

Ironwood sighed. He would do almost anything to not be there, having to say what needed to be said. 'You all seem like good students, and the staff here at Beacon are fully aware that you would never lash out the way you did. Under normal circumstances.' The girls stared at Ironwood with woebegone eyes. 'But I believe and hope this to be nothing more than the result of stress and adrenaline. When you're out on the battlefield, your judgement can become clouded in an instant. Sometimes you see things that simply aren't there. Even after the fight has passed.'

'But I wasn't-' Yang began to argue back.

'That's ENOUGH!' Ironwood shouted frustrated.

Silence filled the room as everyone recovered from the General's sudden raised voice. He continued after a few seconds. He chose his words carefully. 'The sad truth is… whether it was an accident, or an assault… it doesn't matter. The world saw you attack an innocent student. They've already drawn their own conclusions. And it's my job to inform you that… you've disqualified.' He said, looking at Yang with crestfallen eyes. She looked back with a rope wound tightly over her soul. It felt unjust. To Yang, it _was_ unjust.  
But General Ironwood could only look at the circumstances and take an unbiased, objective approach. He said no more and walked out the door.

'You guys believe me… right?' Yang asked.

'Duh!' said Ruby.

'You're hot-headed, but not ruthless.' Weiss replied.

Yang noticed that her partner had not said anything at all whilst Ironwood had been in the room. She turned her head to look at her. '…Blake?'

Blake hesitated before saying anything. Weiss and Ruby exchanged horrified expressions at the thought that Blake would not be on Yang's side. 'I want to believe you.' she said without looking at Yang.

'Huh?' Ruby said, boggled.

'What's that supposed to mean?' said Weiss angrily at Blake.

Yang's eyes began to water. How could her own teammate, and her own partner nonetheless, not trust Yang's word? 'Blake?' she said forlornly, hey eyes overflowing in rheum.

Blake felt uncomfortable at saying that, but those were her honest thoughts. Her eyes had not lied. She was in the overwhelming majority of the people who had witness Yang punch Mercury.

'How can you say something like that?' said Weiss, offended on Yang's behalf. 'Yang would never lie to us!'

Blake exhaled and lowered her head to look at her wrists that rested on her knees. 'I had someone very dear to me change. It wasn't in an instant, it was gradual… Little choices that began to pile up.' Her stomach churned as she reminisced over the man who had once been her closest ally, friend and even romantic interest. 'He told me not to worry. At first they were accidents… then it was self-defence. Before long, even I began to think he was right. This is all just… very… familiar.' she said, unsure of how to elaborate properly on how she felt.

Yang's tears trickled down her cheeks like rain on a window.

'But you're not him.' Blake added quickly. 'And you've never done anything like this before. So… I want to trust you. I _will_ trust you. But first, I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me he attacked you. I need you to promise me that you regret having to do what you did.'

Yang sniffed and wiped her eyes before saying earnestly: 'I saw him attack me. So I attacked back.'

A ghost of a smile appeared on Blake's face. 'Okay. Thank you.' she replied.

'I think I'm gonna rest up.' said Yang.

The three other members of Team RWBY stood up. 'We'll get out of your hair.' said Blake understandingly.

Ruby closed the door gently. She, Weiss and Blake stood outside in the corridor.

'This is a mess.' said the downcast Weiss.

The door to Team JNPR's room opened. Jaune stood in the doorway. 'She doing okay?' he asked. Nora, Ren and Pyrrha stared outside in sympathy of Yang and Team RWBY's disqualification.

'She's doing the best she can.' said Blake with a slight shaking of her head.

'I heard Mercury and his team rushed back to Haven to be with his family. So, until they land, no one can really question him about what happened.' Ruby mentioned.

'If there's anything we can do, please don't hesitate to ask.' said Ren sincerely.  
'Alright then… if that's the case… Pyrrha?'

Pyrrha sat down on her bed. 'Hmm?' she said, looked over to Ruby.

'You be sure to win one for Beacon, okay?' said Ruby with a more merry shift in tone.

'It's what Yang would want.' said Weiss.

Pyrrha thought back to the Fall Maiden. She wasn't sure what Ozpin had wanted her for when he, Ironwood, Goodwitch and Qrow had taken her down to the vault, but the seriousness that the headmaster had shown and the learning of the Maidens' existence was flowing through her mind like a river without a dam. Refocusing her attention to Ruby, she said: 'I'll do my best.'

'I'll be sure to watch tonight in case you're picked!' Ruby replied avidly.

'Sorry, but I think I've had enough fighting for one year.' said Blake.

'Ditto.' Weiss nodded. 'Coffee?'

'Tea.'

Ruby, Weiss and Blake walked down to corridor to the cafeteria. Jaune closed the door.

* * *

A pernicious shadow once roamed the landscape of Runeterra. Its exact origins were not known, nor did it have a specific date attributed to its coming into existence, but scholars and historians have done vague research into the shadow and its essence. No thorough examination can take place of an itinerant _thing_ , but its existence fascinated the minds of those who are open-minded to the possibility of supernatural creatures and activity.

But what is the shadow that people speak of, and how can one even know that they have seen something so evasive, let alone make a valid claim that you have seen it? There are other rumoured demons across Runeterra that had made a notorious name for themselves. How can one be sure that everyone was not referring to the same one?

Well the shadow in question was associated with a few iconic features and consistent details that were reoccurring on almost every case involving it. It seemed to be sentient and had its own intelligence. Despite being described as a silhouette, the shadow was tangible and could interact physically with the world around it.

As is in the nature of a predator, it fed off of its victims to extract nutrients for itself, in order to survive, otherwise it would die. This being was no real exception to the rules of nature, but this hunter did not seek out carbohydrates, vitamins and proteins – no, no, no. Instead, it seemed to prey on people's miseries: fuelling itself literally through the anguish of others.

The majority of people who had claimed to see the shadow had actually not seen it, but rather they had seen the aftermath of its coming and going: the person who had been on the receiving end of its lashings.

Almost every case that was reported said that the shadow had targeted a male human – although there were exceptions. Their bodies had been impaled with lethal spikes all over until their corpses were unidentifiable, had there not been a person who had known for sure who the victims were.

However in the most recent of times, the shadow was delineated as a voluptuous woman, albeit with purple skin and professed tentacles out of its back. The most common theory stated that the demon used her body and irresistible sexual appeal to lure in its prey. Only the foolish though would want to interchange with this femme fatale.

Because the demon shadow was described – or more specifically, personified – in such a way, it was granted humanistic reference. The 'Widowmaker' was the denonym given to the demon, but the woman had been granted the name of 'Evelynn'.

* * *

The Demon Shade of Evelynn prowled across the outskirts of Demacia in the west, nearing the Conqueror's Seas. She had been in search of new flavours for her to feast on: new types of amenable gulls who could not resist her charms. By heading so far outwards from Western Valoran, she was making a gamble far bigger than the ones typically taken in the scourged port city of Bilgewater in the Blue Flame Isles archipelago. In fact, she had been rather content with the people she had found in the east: wealthy families with everything to lose in Piltover; homeless and sick people in Zaun, oppressed people in colonised regions of the Noxian Empire and even the stragglers of Mount Targon who were outcasts certain faiths or beliefs.

Demacia however seemed almost like the complete opposite of a buffet to Evelynn. All the people Demacia were happy and unified. Isolating a target in a well-guarded city made of magic-nullifying petricite would be possible, but highly unlikely and not worth the energy she would need to expend to receive the prize.  
Many people in the conservative city of Demacia knew the values of hardship and working to achieve dreams and to be able to eat the sweet fruits of their labours. In turn, they also knew that they ultimately did not want to be in a position where the only fruit you could have was rotten, unripe vegetables. They had room for grief, but were determined not to relinquish euphoria.

It was no good for Evelynn, yet she had come so far with minimal nourishment from farmers along her journey across the continent.  
She had used the tactic of destroying their crops in the night, so that they would wake up in the morning, distraught at the site of their ruined income. With them on their knees, sobbing into their hands, Evelynn approached each farmer with a seductive swagger. In their woes, Evelynn would pry open their weaknesses to grant them a fleeting moment of licentious pleasure before disembowelling them to pieces. The proceedings of posing as a vivacious woman didn't matter to Evelynn. Like a working citizen, this was purely for getting what she wanted. If she could have gotten away without seducing every man she encountered, she would have chosen so. But even so, the pay cheque of every scream invigorated Evelynn with a surge of energy and a craving for more. The price to pay was absolutely worth it. Admittedly for her, she got a mild amount of pleasure at seeing men being so stupefied, only for that momentary lust to be vanquished in an instant.

* * *

Evelynn thought back to a farmer she had had the pleasure of tormenting most recently in Terbisia. Out of all her stops, that one had been her favourite: the pleasure had been the juiciest. She decided to lure the man out in the middle of the night instead of during the day. The lands in Terbisia were fertile but prone to beasts and poros coming from Southern Freljord to eat well grown crops. The man was poor, with a wife and two children. He could not afford countermeasures to deter animals eating from the vegetable patches.

It was dark outside. The demon approached the perimeter of the farm, protected sparsely by as rickety fence, and slipped into the shadows. The farmer's land was exposed and out in the open, but the absence of a sun meant that only the most attentive eye would have noticed Evelynn. It was too easy. She crept up the family cottage, which was on the other side of the farm and peered inside the lowest window.

She saw a small kitchen with a wooden round table, a sink, a stove and a few cupboards. ' _Nothing in here…'_ Evelynn went around to the other side of the cottage. At the back was a sign attached the wall. It said: "No Trespassing!" The demon's curiosity piqued. Whoever lived here was clearly very protective of something.  
There was another low window on this side of the cottage. Evelynn smiled with poison on her tongue. A double-bed was right up against the wall. What was presumably the farmer and his wife, were sleeping mere centimetres away from Evelynn. Against the left and right sides of the room were two single-beds with a boy and a girl in one each.  
 _This_ was a family worth Evelynn's time.

The important question though was how she should go about this situation. She needed to lure someone out of the cottage and then inveigle that person to follow her into the nearby woods where, where she would then proceed to inflict unspeakable torture onto the poor victim.

Evelynn looked at the sign on the wall again. Most owners of land naturally did not want intruders on their property. She deduced that it was because the farmer had healthy crops, like many others, that he presumably wanted to sell to locals or even Demacians. This was the farmer's weakness. Evelynn would use this to her advantage.  
She began to scour the vegetable patches, quietly digging up as many of them as she could, tearing the lettuce apart; snapping the carrots in half; squashing the tomatoes and even taking a few bites out of them.  
Evelynn didn't like the taste of any food. It provided no benefits to her, and she had never tried anything that she had actually found palatable.

The demon continued to spoil the crops until there were only a few left. ' _That'll do.'_ Evelynn said to herself. _'Let's go and agonise these meat saps'.  
_ Her second step was to wake up the family. She went to the bedroom window, took a deep breath and knocked on the window hard. The man and the woman stirred but didn't wake up. Evelynn tried again and this time she got results.

It was time for the feast to begin.

* * *

John Maker heard a noise. It sounded like the noise of a something thumping against the window. His deep sleep was cut short and he opened his eyes. Being conscientious not to wake up with wife, he got up and peered out the window. There was nothing there.

 _Woof, woof woof!_ The sound of a dog disrupted the golden silence. Growling with vexation, the farmer put on a pair of slippers and a dressing gown and crossed the small living room, which then led straight into the kitchen. He opened the kitchen door, lit a wooden torch and grabbed a pitchfork that was hanging on the wall before stepping outside. Holding the torch high, he was instantly slapped in the face with the sight of his vegetable patches. John felt horrified. It was like something out of a nightmare: all his hard work that had been growing for four months, making sure that they were as organic as possible, was torn to pieces. He dropped the torch onto the stone floor and used his pitchfork to keep himself from falling over out of misery.

 _Woof, woof, woof!_ The dog barked once again. John turned to face the direction the mocking sound was coming from. Without thinking, he ran towards the source of the noise. He didn't think about the fact that he had left his torch behind and could not see where he was going; all he cared about was getting revenge on the mongrel that had sabotaged his farm.

He entered the orchard and continued to run past the orange and apple trees. The dog was leading his further and further away from his house. It didn't occur to John that a dog was most likely going to be much faster than he could even run, yet he did not give up and still perused the elusive mutt.

The enraged farmer thought he could see the dog scampering away in the distance. He picked up the pace and ran at it with gritted teeth. It was going to pay. He was going to make a meal of vengeance out of it.  
Something caught John's ankle and he tripped over. It was a root of a tree. He groaned and tried to pick himself off the floor. The impact had hurt and he realised how out of breath he was from chasing the dog. As he became more aware of his surroundings, his anger was exchanged for fright. This area of the woods was much thicker than the edges. Nearer the centre, the branches and leaves above were so thick that no moonlight was allowed through. He could barely see his hands in front of his face.

John was shaking all over. He edged backwards, completely unsure of where to go. A tree was right behind him and he jumped as he made contact with it.  
The farmer was vulnerable, lost in the woods and unable to run and in too much of a panic to think to cry out for help. Even then, what if something heard him yell and capitalised on his helplessness?  
With no other idea, John curled up against a nearby tree and put his head in his knees. He whimpered and hoped that his wife had noticed that he was out of bed.  
Then a giggle sounded nearby. John clenched himself even more tightly. Whatever it was, he feared that it was out to get him. It giggled again, closer this time. 'Aww, are you lost?' it said. It was a woman.

The farmer looked up gingerly to see a stunning lady standing in front of her. Her beauty was indescribable. His fear was now mixed in with allurement. She was almost entirely naked, with only some very skimpy underwear that scarcely concealed her private parts. John was staring at her without even realising it. His heart was pounding faster than it had ever done in his life: so hard in fact that he was having troubling breathing. 'Wh- who are you?' he asked.

'I'm here to help you, love.' she answered with a wink. 'Stand up and let me have a good look at you.'

John's legs were like jelly, but he had enough lust and determination to do so. The woman examined his body all over. She stroked his arms and legs, ran her fingers through his hair, kissed him on the cheek and even briefly put her hand around his groin.

He was mesmerised and his heart was melting like ice on a hot summer day, but forced himself to remember that he had a wife.

'How about we go somewhere more romantic? Just you and me.' she said with seductive cajoling.

'Are- are you sure?' John stuttered.

'Playing hard to get? No need to be shy. I'm _sure_.' she replied.

'I already… I… a-already have a partner. I shouldn't.'

'Oh, your fear is so _hot_. It makes me tingle.'

'P-please, lady, I can't.'

'It's okay honey, I'm open to all types, even ones who are already taken.' She went up to him and kissed him directly on the lips. 'Let your guard down. No one will know.'

The woman indicated with her finger that he was to follow her. She walked in a direction that John was not able to discern. He had no memory of where he had come from.  
As they walked, he noticed her bottom as she strutted and focused his attention onto it. After fifteen seconds, they were in a more open space. There were less branches above them and moonlight was allowed in. John could see the woman in more detail. Her eyes were a devilish yellow colour, she had purple skin and a visible aura around her. Most unsettling of all though were two separate lashers on her back that only came into view in the shining of the moon.

'Now let's have some fun!' said the woman with a luscious voice. She walked up to John, grabbed him by the jaw and eased him to the floor on his back. His mind was beseeching at him to run away, but his body was giving in to the temptation of the woman. She perched herself on top of the farmer's stomach and let loose a smile that was both lovely and disconcerting simultaneously. John looked at her and saw that beneath her pink lips she had fangs.

The alarm bells went off. John began to struggle, but the woman put her right hand tightly around his mouth. She was starting to look less and less like a human. He could feel her nails digging into his cheeks. They were too sharp to be regular nails though: they were claws. 'Shh…' she whispered, supressing the hapless man 'I'm a biter.'

* * *

Evelynn was in the perfect position. She couldn't submerge one final giggle before she began the thrashing.  
In an instant, the man's life was flipped upside down into hell. Four spikes materialised out of nowhere, stabbing their way through each of his limbs: one through both of his wrists and ankles. His screams filled the night air. 'AHHHHH!' Evelynn inhaled his every shriek.

'Ohh, yes… cry for me honey!' she said lasciviously.

How deceptive the prurience of one's exterior can be.

John writhed in _Agony's Embrace_ but his efforts were useless. The spikes he had been impaled with prevented him from moving his arms and legs. Every jerk hurt even more, but every spike made him jerk. Another spike appeared and shot its way through his left arm. Every yell and cry drained him of energy. Blood was gushing out of the holes made by the spikes in his skin. More and more smaller spikes rose from the ground and pierced the epidermis on his back. His shrieks were now higher pitched and emitted even more anguish and unheard pleas for mercy.

'Harder? Okay!' said Evelynn. Another spike erupted from the dirt, punctured his right lung and cracked his right ribs. 'Awww, you thought you were getting lucky!' she said mockingly and she ripped off his dressing gown and pyjama top with her claws. 'I hope you like it rough.' she whispered.

John saw Evelynn raise her hands before clawing her way through the skin of his chest. 'Stop! STOP!' he pleaded.

'Shut up and scream for me!' Evelynn hissed. 'The more I cut away, the closer we'll get the heart!' She scratched like a vicious cat, scraping off every single piece of skin the claws could find and then used her teeth to bite away chunks of flesh.

Every single move she made was precise, ensuring that the man was in as much pain and his stem cells could physically sense. 'Just a thousand more screams to go.' she said.  
The demon raised her left hand and clawed her way through John's right arm, ripping off a perfect strip of skin. John screamed and screamed. It's crazy how an ordinary man with a punctured lung could cry for so long, but Evelynn was no ordinary demon.  
She wrapped the strip of skin around John's neck and began to pull tight. 'Save your breath love.' Evelynn said maliciously. 'Don't want to run out of screams too soon, do we?'

John was choking on his own spoiled blood, his life slowly ebbing away, but Evelynn had not had enough. With the most disturbing grin any human had ever seen, she did the cruellest thing a person could do to a man. Two extremely sharp and long spikes shot out of the ground. Both found one of the man's testicles and they were torn from his scrotum as they were caught on the points.

If the strip of skin from his right arm hadn't been around his throat, his scream would have pierced the eardrums of a deaf man from Ionia. The pain was rushing through his body at a rapid speed, as though his diminishing blood had been replaced with physical trauma itself.  
Evelynn cackled with pleasure. She picked up the testicles with her hands and held them right in front of his face. 'No. More. Babies!' she said and stuffed one of them into his mouth before chewing on the other and spitting it onto his face.

For another ten minutes Evelynn had her fun, taking her time to savour every last cry. John's body was punctured all over and his life was now held together only by a single strand of water-soluble thread. 'I'll suck every last drop of joy from your heart!' said Evelynn. She had tried her best to prolong her time spent with the farmer, but even she had not mastered the techniques of infinitely preserving the victim of the soul that she so admired of the Chain Warden.

For the last act, Evelynn ripped off John's eyelids and gouged his eyes. The last thing he ever saw was the look of unbridled cruelty and duplicitous pleasure.

It had been one of the demon's most memorable nights of her life. It would only have been made better if she had had the chance to inflict the same misery onto the man's family, but they arrived as Evelynn stood up after finally killing John. His wife had a shotgun and Evelynn knew that she couldn't combat firearms directly, so she slipped away into the shadow, using that one man's life she had vaporised to keep herself going.

* * *

Evelynn finally reached the coast and looked out to sea. She wasn't sure, but believed that there was nothing out there. All her energy had been wasted to come to Demacia.  
She lay on the ground in frustration. 'Ugh, a woman's left unsatisfied.' she said to herself. 'What am I to do?'

Suddenly, a garrison of Demacian troops came marching towards the coastline. They had swords and weapons in hand with heavy armour. The man at the front was wearing a crown. Evelynn presumed that this was the current King of Demacia: Jarvan III. A younger man with regal-like clothes stood next to him – possibly Prince Jarvan IV. These two were interesting targets in their own right, but two other figures stood out to Evelynn as well. One was an enormous man with massive pauldrons, a humongous sword and a blue cape. Right next to his side was a young girl. She looked like she was no older than twenty one years old and had a pretty face with bright blonde hair.  
Evelynn immediate became curious and crawled along the ground towards the gathering. She hid behind a large rock.

The King was speaking to everyone. 'I think that's everything you will need. Garen, the ship and the wind should naturally guide you westwards.'

'Are you sure about this, your Majesty?' the giant man asked.

'I am. The journey may not be easy. It may be perilous for that matter, but I have faith in my army and my people that you will have a safe journey across the seas and make the discovery of a lifetime! For Demacia!'

'For Demacia!' said all the soldiers in unison.

The young Prince Jarvan commanded the men to head down to the jetty to board a rather large naval ship that would have fit nicely into Bilgewater.

Garen hugged the young girl and was about to leave before he was stopped by the King. Evelynn moved in closer to listen.

'Garen, I acknowledge that this mission is open to many questions. It's improbable anything of avail will be found in the new land, but if Galio is randomly coming to life when there is no magic anywhere near here, something big must've happened across the seas for him to suddenly be awake so frequently. If you're ever in need of help, we'll send him to you. I can send backup units if need be as well. My son and Shyvana will be more than willing to lend you a hand.'

'Thank you, your Majesty.' said Garen. The two of them shook hands before saluting each other. Garen departed for the ship, leaving the King, Prince and girl behind.

Evelynn watched as the crew began to untie all the knots from the jetty but then turned her head to look at the three who were left behind. In theory, she could have had so much fun with the royal family, but knew that she would be trapped inside Demacian walls if she followed them back.  
It was a risk she'd have to take. Evelynn had never swam before, but that didn't stop her from moulding herself into a sea creature.  
Before the ship moved away from the dock, she jumped into the water and turned herself into a small shark. The water was surprisingly cool and she quickly acclimatised to the sudden change in environment.

There were so many big and stupid men aboard this ship and she could easily hide herself over the edge or in a barrel of some sorts – she would just have to wait until night time, but that wasn't a problem. Even if she was found, bumbling brutes cannot catch a shadow on board a rocking boat.


	11. Birds and Planes

**Chapter 11** – Birds and Planes

Yang stared miserably out of the window. A merry Team JNPR were strolling across the courtyard.

A voice spoke out from inside her room. 'Hey there firecracker.' Yang hadn't even heard him enter the room. It could have been because she was swimming in her sadness, or the fact that her Uncle was a trained Huntsman who knew how to break and enter without being detected.

'Hey Qrow… said Yang without looking him.

Qrow was leaning against the wall by the door, with his arms folded. 'So… why'd you do it?' he asked, obviously believing that Yang had punched Mercury unprovoked.

'You know why.' she replied without elaboration.

'All I know is that you attacked a helpless kid. So either you're lying, or you're crazy.'

'I'm NOT lying.' said Yang vehemently, facing Qrow for the first time with a scowl.

'Hm, crazy. Got it.' Qrow stepped away from the wall and walked in a circle around the room.

'Who knows? Maybe I am.'

'And here I thought your dark haired friend was the emo one.'

'I saw my Mom.' Yang said all of a sudden. Qrow stopped pacing and looked at her niece, with piqued interest. 'I- I was in a lot of trouble. Took a pretty hard hit. But when I came to, the person attacking me was gone. And I thought I saw… her. Her sword. Like the one in you and Dad's old picture.'

'Tch. You're not crazy, Yang. That was your Mom alright. Let me guess. She didn't say a word, did she?' said Qrow with an absence of doubt.

'How did you know that?'

'I don't see my sister very often, but she does try to keep in touch. Whenever it suits her.'

'Wait, you mean you talked to her? That was real?!' said Yang nonplussed.

'Yeah, she found me. Had a tip from my most recent assignment, and wanted me to give you a message.'

'Why didn't you tell me sooner?' Yang demanded.

Qrow walked up to the window and gazed at the clear sky outside. 'I was trying to wait for the right moment.' he responded imprecisely. 'And this sure ain't it. But I guess you deserve to know.'

Yang attuned her attention on Qrow.

'She wanted me to tell you that she saved you once, but you shouldn't expect that kindness again. Raven's got an interesting way of looking at the world that I don't particularly agree with.' he went on to say. 'And she's dangerous, but you're a tough egg, kiddo. Shouldn't let this tournament thing get you down. You had a slip-up. Sometimes bad things just happen. I say it's time you move on.'

'Move on to what?'

Before answering Yang's question, Qrow put his hands on the windowsill, continuing to observe the blue sky. 'Well, Raven let some info slip before she took off. If you ever wanna track her down, I think I might be able to help.'  
Qrow turned and the two of them met with solid eye contact.

Five seconds passed before Qrow answered Yang's question with the second part of his answer.

'Also, it may not be long before you're gonna make yourself useful in the real world, outside of Beacon.'

'What do you mean?'

'It's about the whole issue of the new world. Time could be our enemy. Every second that passes has potential for horrors to brew. The tournament may feel important to you, but in the grand scheme of things, it's just a few moments of fame with no real bearing on life and the world as a whole. Priorities don't lie a friendly competitions, but with genuine, real-world problems. I discredited you and your sister for not doing a proper job at stopping Torchwick and the White Fang, but I _should_ have at least given credit where it is due. You made an influence for the betterment of Vale and that warrants recognition. You have some experience under your belt and any bit of experience you have is priceless in a time where the future is uncertain. It's very likely that Oz and the General will be rounding you lot up and taking you to Anima or Western Sanus themselves.'

'But I thought Ozpin wanted us to remain put until we hear from the Kingdoms directly.' Yang commented.

'Again: you're not _thinking_ like a Huntress. You can't be reactive and only make a move when something surfaces. You need to be _proactive_ and anticipate something that has _yet_ to surface. Remnant has merged with another world – as far as we know. That's not something to take lightly. To us, the people on this new planet could be savages. We need to be on our guard and ready in case someone ambushes us. Not only is their illegal activity going on in Remnant, there's also threat from the new world – _outside_ of Remnant. So long as we don't know for sure that's going on, we should all be on the alert. Besides, the CCTS isn't up and there's no telling how long it'll be before the whole network will reboot. Oz is optimistic and think that it won't be long, since none of the Kingdoms were supposedly damaged beyond repair, but fixing an intricate technological tower within a few days isn't likely to happen quickly.'

Qrow exhaled and Yang peered into his eyes, observing the red that clouded hers when she was angry. The colour made her feel agitated, but the expression from Qrow revoked that feeling.

'Yang, you should feel good that you hold so much power as a Huntress. You make more of a difference on this world than twenty trained military soldiers combined, and you're still yet to finish growing in vigour and spirit. If anything happens and you, Ruby and your friends have to make a trip to the East or West, then that speaks numbers about how significant you all are: high school students. Now of course we shouldn't undermine the military and their role in protecting humanity, but you and I both know that Huntsmen and Huntresses are far more respected members of society. The world may currently be outraged and what you did to that kid, but overtime this little issue will boil over, and we may even be able to clear your name in due course. So cheer up, because a young thrill seeker like yourself has many adventures ahead of her.'  
Qrow put a hand on Yang's shoulder and smiled. She saw the kindness in her Uncle's heart and the sincerity in his words.

She smiled back. 'Thanks, Qrow.' she replied.

'It's okay Firecracker. It's the middle of the day and there's about five hours extra to account for, but you should get some rest and try not to let yourself get worked up about the tournament.'

Qrow got up and walked towards the door. 'You have some great friends and teachers who are very supportive of you Yang. If you ever need help or want someone to talk to, remember that you're surrounded by allies.'  
Yang remained where she sat on her bed and looked back and simply said: 'Okay, I will.'

'Catch ya later kiddo.'

* * *

 **My Journal: Entry No. 72**

 _It's the second time in the last few days that I've been directed with a scouting mission. Assignments have been lacking over this past year, since there has been little activity and anything worth investigating, so no one has called for an expert aviator._

 _My feet have been itching for some action. I greatly missed the feeling of the wind against my moustache, and I wasn't satisfied with only one mission. Now that I've been tasked with two, my cravings are being sated: possibly not entirely, but enough that my excitement isn't as uncaged as it was when the Expeditionary Force asked me to go across the seas for the first time in ages. Still though, I am beyond thrilled that I will be up in the air shortly. The disclaimer that it was to a faraway land with no stops along the way served only to expedite my eagerness._

 _Without hesitation, I answer the call of duty and prep my Reconnaissance Operations Front-Line Copter for take-off.  
My directives are demanding, but I am a fulfiller of absurd tasks that people of a younger generation don't have the guts to take on. I am attracted to the air as much as a bird is and as much as a fish is to water. _

_Forty nine hours ago, I flew across the eastern seas to the new world. This time, I am going westwards, travelling the long way round by flying over Valoran to find an alternate route to the new continent. No one knows for sure how far away it'll be, because no one yet knows how big the continent is, but my gut instincts are telling me that I'll be fine._

 _I am sitting in my locker room, putting on my pilot gear, when my co-officer comes in and gives me a pep talk. I can't remember what he says word for word, so I'll summarise by saying that he was feeling mentally and physically sick. He is having regrets at sending me on this mission, because of how much danger and uncertainty is involved. This is not surprising, considering that he is very close to me._

 _With the biggest grin I can muster under my hairy visage, I reassure him that I will be fine and nothing bad is going to happen.  
I put on the rest of my garments and stroll out of the room, with my co-officer following behind. The look of melancholy on his face is puzzling to me. On the first mission a few days ago he was displaying high tenor. Maybe it was because the first mission was merely a glimpse of the new world. This time however, the BCEF want me to touch down and investigate on foot. _

_I can appreciate my co-officer worrying for me, but he should remember that I am youthful and more than capable. Old age is nothing more than a dysphemistic way of saying sagacity. I am an expert in the field, and no other pilot has even come close to my feats in my lifetime. I would sooner lose my eyesight than a chance at flying the longest distance a person has ever flew. It is not polite of me to brag, but I take pride in knowing that I am unmatched in the skies. Who I ask is better suited to an assignment like this than myself?_

 _I walk out to the hanger and see my baby. My relationship with her is as old and faithful as that of the ragamuffins in Bilgewater and their boats. She's just right for me: packed with a gatling gun, missiles, bullets and other artillery that a dogfighter may need._

 _I hop into my plane and put on my goggles. I turn on the engine and the propellers above me begin to whirl. The sound is like the prelude of a majestic song, sang by a choir, and it only gets better from there._

 _My commander comes up to me and instructs me to get out of the plane. I turn the engine off and ask what the problem is.  
I am outraged. He has told me candidly that my No. 1 plane isn't suitable for this mission. "It's too slow." he says. "You're better off using the Red Baron Fighter Plane instead."  
With hot gas in my system, I clench my fists and tell him that he is speaking nonsense. My plane is suited for major missions like these. Furthermore, I am used to my ROFC. It would make less sense for me to handle a plane I have no experience with. _

_But alas, he insists that I take command of the Red Baron Fighter Plane instead. I step inside and fiddle with the controls. There's a bit more legroom and space for my hands out in the open. Immediately I feel a bit uneasy, but I try not to think about it too much. It's loaded with basically the same weapons as my personal plane, and I reckon that I'll quickly warm up to the feel of the aircraft._

 _With a hefty sigh, I turn on the engine and guide the plane out of the hanger. I look back inside and see my baby sitting alone. I guess she's stretched her wings a few days ago, so she isn't dying to be flown again. I look at it that way and then refocus my attention to the runway.  
I have an earpiece on and I hear the navigator in the control tower giving his permission to let me go. A few seconds pass as the engine revs up enough that it can lift off the ground. It takes a shorter amount of time than my personal plane. I let a few seconds pass before accelerating the plane forwards. I'm going faster and faster. The air is pushing against my face as I leave the runway. It's a great feeling, but is even more noticeable with how exposed I am in this particular aircraft. Nevertheless I am en route for the new world, westwards at nine o'clock.  
The mission is ago._

 _It takes me a while to adjust to the plane's dynamism. It's like my brain is inside a different body with a different physique. I spend so much time inside them that they've pretty much become a part of me. A few dips and dives, barrel rolls and other expert manoeuvres get me in touch with this new plane though in no time - I'm an adaptable pilot._

 _I bypass the wall between the physical and magical realm and feel the abrupt change in the cold air. I stay below the clouds, since they're looking rather dense today. Below me is the rocky hillsides of the southern North Valoran. It will take a while before I even get past the rural areas of Noxus, but the Red Baron should make the journey a bit quicker._

* * *

 **My Journal: Entry No. 73**

 _So far I have made it past Noxus and am en route to the outskirts of Demacia. I have seldom come to West Valoran and I am pleasantly eying the luscious green farmlands and remarking how tranquil it looks down there. Farmers had migrated from these regions to go and settle in bigger states like Demacia and Piltover. If I ever do retire, I would like to go to Glorft, just by looking at it from above._

 _Next I go over Trevale. If my memory serves correctness, I believe that one of my distant relatives made a life down there, gaining land a property before migrating to Noxus and joining the military. It's been gosh knows how long since I last saw him, but if he has lived as long as I have, then he might still be going strong. The winds are slightly rougher here, and I pull down lower to not be caught in the fierce winds blowing up north. The wings of this plane are actually benefiting quite well from their aerodynamic streamline design. That's interesting. My commander is younger than me and yet knew in advance that this plane would probably be better for me. Maybe I am getting old to the point where I can't distinguish quality from affection._

 _Now I am over Needlebrook, encroaching on Demacian territory. As I fly close to the coast line I see the pristine white walls of the great nation in the distance. From here it looks like a city of art, sculpted with the intent of aesthetically pleasing its citizens._

 _The west coast is just ahead. It has taken me one and a half hours approximately to get this far. I am not concerned with running out of fuel. My gauge says that I have only depleted six percent of my tank. I am a bit hungry though and reach behind me for some biscuits. They were baked by a youngling in Bandle City. I must make a point and say that they are delicious._

 _Finally I am leaving Valoran and moving out to sea. There is no solid surface beneath me. Should I crash, I will plummet into the water and be stranded. I have my co-officer on speaker though. If I ever get into trouble I can just give a shout. The way things are going at the moment though, I will be beyond the reach of rescue from here on out. But what am I worrying about? There's no way that'll happen. Why am I even pondering such unhealthy thoughts?  
I look below me and see a ship. I assume that it is a Demacian vessel. It too seems to be going outwards. The Conqueror's Sea has nothing beyond it, save for a lone island. Perhaps word has gotten around from Bandle City that a new continent has been discovered. They should give me credit, considering that it was me who made the initial first contact, but whatever.  
The ship is powered by wind and sail. It is slow. At the rate they're going, they won't make it and will run out of food for their crew. There's still the possibility that the new world will be closer than anticipated though. I can't see it yet, but it hopefully won't be long. _

_I'm miles out and so far I have just seen blue all around. There's little to add right now. From up here you can't see any underwater activity. For now I can only keep on going in a straight line until something crosses the horizon._

 _Four more hours have passed. Most of my flights are filled with excitement and risky aviation. A lot of those moments were during wartime or when a target needed to be blown up. A mission like this isn't very noteworthy and I've been flying for longer than I have ever done before in my life. But there's no turning back now. I'm more than half way there, and I'm not a quitter. There's got to be something coming up that's worth flying all this way for._

* * *

 **My Journal: Entry No. 74**

 _I see land! It's big and wide. This is most surely a continent of some sort: possibly the eastern side of the new world. It was worth coming here after all.  
Still, I must keep a low profile. My orders have been to make a more thorough scan of the land: taking in more of what I see and reporting it back to home. Anyone looking up may take my presence as a reason to sound the alarm. I mustn't fly to low lest I be spotted, but I also have to keep low enough that I can make the observations I am tasked with. _

_Concentrating is hard. I may have been flying merely in a straight line, but I still had to keep myself awake, fighting against the wind and making sure that I don't dip. It requires a lot of mental perseverance that I have less of nowadays. It doesn't help that right now is the moment I have to be the most astute. Oh how topsy-turvy this is._

 _From what I can see, the land below me is highly developed. There are clearly forms of society here that would not look out of place on a Runeterra postcard. There are towns with buildings that look very much like the ones found nearer home. I descend lower to get a better glimpse of the living things below. I may be old, but there is no mistaking that those are people: human beings. They look just like every other human I've met.  
How can this be? The cycle of day and night has been extended and land just comes out of nowhere, that's developed and thriving with people. It makes my head spin with astonishment, but that is not the most pressing matter. I just need to take more mental notes of what the continent actually looks like and has in it: not how it came to be. I detail out what I am seeing in brief to the folks back at home. It's so loud however up here with the engine and the wind that they can't hear me. In a typical search and destroy mission, all I have to say is that I've hit someone and that I'm safe. Precise details aren't being conveyed, so I'll have to give more feedback when I land. _

_I am moving out of town and heading north across a landscape of grassy greens and natural forests. This may be the ideal spot to land. I'll be away from people and will have an opportunity to scout about with no one around. Whilst it'll take me a while to get closer to the settlements once I land, I will be safer here and will have a better chance to recuperate. Yes, that is exactly what I'll do._

* * *

 **My Journal: Entry No. 75**

 _It didn't occur to me that there may be predators on the ground out in the wild, and it certainly didn't occur to me that there may be tribes out here, who are far from amicable._

 _An arrow hits my plane, directly in the engine core! I am startled at the noise of a sharp object piercing the metal of the Red Baron. After the shock, I feel the plane losing air, and I'm losing control. It starts spinning and so do I. All of its functionality has been mitigated. 'Mayday!' I cry out. Mayday! Mayday! I'm going down!'_

 _I'm circling downwards, in too much of a panic to even think to eject myself. My head is dizzy and all sense of control is tumbling down with me. This has never happened to me before.  
Fifty metres left until impact…  
Thirty five metres left…  
Twenty metres left…  
Ten metres-  
Five metres!  
'Argh' I scream as the Red Baron nose dives into the floor and the resulting explosion sends me flying. I skid across the ground, rolling on my side until I eventually come to a stop._

 _I've lost a lot of my vision and my ears are ringing. With bleary eyes, I look straight on to see a pair of feet directly in front of me. I am bruised all over and have only enough strength to look up and see the sinister grim of a man carrying a bow in his hand. Next to him are a few other men who are probably friends of his._

'Well, well, well. What do we have here?' _he says with both glee and curiousness expression._ 'Some sort of rodent flying a mini plane. It's pretty cute.' _  
_

_He can speak my language!_ 'Please, d-don't hurt me.' _I beg._

'It can talk.' _another man remarks._

'It probably can if it's smart enough to fly a plane and wear clothes, idiot.' _says the man with the bow._

'What should we do with it?'

'Take it back with us. Whatever it is, you never know if it fetches a high price.' _says a third man, who brings a rifle from over his shoulder and points it at me._

 _I'm hapless. There is no way I can run with my small stature and I can't fight back. Oh what am I to do? I can speak their language. Maybe I could reason with them.  
_ 'What do you want with me?' _I ask.  
_

'To see what you are. Normally we'd just discard any normal game that we find in the woods, but you're clearly not some ordinary animal. Our leader will most surely be interested in you.'

 _I gulp at his response. I've been captured by bandits and am unable to do anything. A fourth man picks me up, with the third man still pointing the gun straight at my head. The second man is instructed to help the archer carry my plane with them._

 _I am taken straight into the heart of the woods. For only a few minutes we traverse until we reach a camp, with tall columns of sharp wood set roughly up as a fence. There are a few tents and a lot of crates inside, with dozens of various men and women in rough attire. Some are drinking. Others are fumbling with various firearms. A few are playing cards. My attention however is focused on the massive tent in front of me. It looks menacing, even without knowing what's inside it. As we approach, the man holding the gun goes up to it and pokes his head inside.  
_

'Hey Raven, we've found something you might be interested in seeing!'

'Describe it to me before I bother to step outside.' _responds the voice of a hard-line woman.  
_

'It's a talking rodent of an unknown species that knows how to fly a plane. We shot him down.'

 _The woman, who I am guessing is the leader, steps outside and comes to inspect me. She has long black hair, an outfit of mostly black, with hues of red and carried a long red sword at her side. But the most unsettling feature about her is those red eyes. They were even more cold-hearted than the eyes of the Swift Scout when he is in full focus on his missions.  
She takes the goggles off my face and stares directly at me. Her red eyes examine me like I'm some sort of wild specimen. Though I suppose to these people, I most likely am.  
_'What are you?' _she asks me.  
_

'I want you to let me go. I didn't do anything to you folks. Please let me leave!'

'You've whetted my interest now I'm afraid. You're not going anywhere. Put it in a cage over there.' _she orders._ 'I'll have a better look at it later.'

 _I am carried over to a barred cage with gaps too small for me to squeeze through. They open the door and throw me inside before locking it. In the distance, I can see the woman and her nuggets taking a good look at what was left of the Red Baron. Thank the celestials that it wasn't my beloved. Now I am slightly glad that my commander told me to use the Red Baron instead._

 _A few other campers come and look at me like I'm a zoo exhibit. I'm being treated like an animal and my blood boils. I'm angry at them for attacking me with no reason and I'm also angry at myself for not being more alert. The Red Baron was filled with weapons. Had I been on more of a lookout, I could have seen the archer and fired a barrage of missiles at him._

 _Oh how have I let myself get captured by a pack of bandits?! I knew the risks were there but I never really thought that things would turn out this bad: that I would get captured. These people are only a tribe, but they are clearly outlaws from the rest of society, and I just so happened to fall into their muddy hands._

 _In my age, I am too old to use the magic of my body that might help me slip out of here. It's no use. I'm going to be stuck here for a while…_


	12. The Alternate Fall of Beacon Part I

**Chapter 12** – The Alternate Fall of Beacon Part I

The next round of the Vytal Festival Tournament was about to start. The event had been delayed until the evening to let as many as people as possible get away from their jobs so that they could see it. At this point during the schedule, _no one_ wishes to be doing anything else other than watching two talented individuals interlocked in a show of a spectacular melee.

The cheering and the tension were just as omnipresent as they were during the first round of the finals. So far it seemed that the outrage surrounding Yang and Mercury had temporarily been suspended in favour of another exciting fight that was hopefully going to conclude with a cleaner ending.

'Alright, it is now time to begin the randomisation process for our next fight!' Oobleck said over the speakers.  
The randomiser began scrolling through the remaining six combatants. 'It looks like our first contender is… Penny Polendina from Atlas!' Port announced to Remnant. 'And her opponent will be… Pyrrha Nikos of Beacon!'

Once again the small platform elevated, confining the two into a small area with an edge to fall off of and limited room to fight.

Penny was jovial and looked like she was ready for anything. Pyrrha by contrast looked melancholic. She could have looked far worse for sure, but the pressing matter of the Fall Maiden going missing was still biting at her ankles. Once again, she was thinking about what Professor Ozpin had wanted with her. She couldn't say for sure, but she was beginning to speculate that he and the other Huntsmen had wanted her to be the next Fall Maiden. She was asking herself if it was her destiny to become a Huntress, and if she was fated to become the Fall Maiden as well. She pondered these thoughts. They were unhelpful and intrusive on the task that stood right in front of her. Ren had wisely said that she should not over-concern herself with Yang's disqualification, but he and the rest of Team JNPR had no idea what was pulsating in Pyrrha's mind.

'Sal-u-tations Pyrrha Nikos!' Penny said merrily. 'It's an honour to finally meet you.'  
Pyrrha said nothing in return. Instead, she looked at her hands and the pads around her wrists.  
'This is going to be so much fun!'

'Fighters, are you ready?!' said Oobleck. The crowd cheered in response, as though he had also asked if the audience was ready too. He then began the countdown with purposefully long pauses between each number to increase the hype.  
'Three!'  
'Two!'  
'One!'  
'Begin!'

Penny summoned her blades – ten of them – which she twirled in mid-air. It was mostly a display of how much control she had over them at first to get the crowd going, but she soon afterwards sent them flying at Pyrrha.  
The star pupil of Beacon weaved between them and rushed towards Penny.  
She called back her blades and spun them around to prevent Pyrrha from landing any hits.

'My word! What a tremendous display from Miss Polendina.' Port commentated.

Pyrrha was overwhelmed by Penny's unbelievable control over her blades. She was pushed backwards but managed to catch herself by placing both her hands on the floor to stop herself from falling over. She then charged at Penny once again, using the levitating blades as aerial footstools to get in close. Pyrrha aimed for Penny's head with the sharp edge of her weapon Miló, but still couldn't even touch her without blatantly revealing that her Semblance was polarity.

Penny thrust Pyrrha off of her blades and went in for a serious of rapid slashes. Pyrrha only just managed to land on her feet in time for her to block the attack. Any sooner and she might have taken a lot of damage. But Pyrrha was still inundated by the amount of control Penny had over the battlefield. Every attempt at hitting her was met with a barricade of ferocious blades that were like of a pack of Rapier Wasps.

Pyrrha brought her shield Akoúo̱ down to her left wrist. She had refrained from using it thus far, but it seemed like it would be essential if she was to win this match.  
She was becoming increasingly frustrated and therefore more aggressive. She tested her Semblance on her own weapons before continuing the fight.

The shield was now giving Pyrrha more of a leg up. She could defend herself more reliably, whilst being able to use spear more offensively. It was her turn to take control of the match. Her natural speed allowed her to finally land some hits. She struck Penny in the face with the hilt of her spear and sent her flying backwards. She then jumped after her to strike again, but Penny managed to dodge each swing.

Penny landed perfectly on her feet and arranged her blades into pairs to fire green lasers at Pyrrha. It was a move that she had not anticipated and was back on the defensive. She swiftly dodged the blasts and then the blades flying straight towards her.

The robot's versatility was proving almost too much for Pyrrha to handle. She was jumping around like a flea and expending all her efforts into simply not getting hit.  
But after Penny had used everything in her arsenal, Pyrrha saw an opening and launched herself at the blade ballerina. The strike sent Penny flying backwards and gave her a moment to catch her breath.

But she took too long of a rest. Penny propelled herself towards Pyrrha with her blades casting lasers behind her. She kicked Pyrrha with full force and sent her rocketing to the floor. Upon picking herself up, Penny sent two blades to disarm her. Pyrrha quickly responded by using her Semblance to instantly retrieve her arsenal.

Penny called back all of her blades and posed like a tiger ready to pounce. Pyrrha stood, terrified at something that only she could see. Twenty more blades materialised out of nowhere.  
Then it was one hundred.  
Then it was one thousand!

She dropped her weapons and staggered backwards. It looked like Penny was going to win. She sent her blades hurtling at Pyrrha. Pyrrha did nothing to defend herself. The blades were directed straight at her like a hailstorm of bullets. She was going to get impaled!

and then…

* * *

Penny recalled all of her blades before they could hit Pyrrha and they both stopped what they were doing.  
An ear-splitting screech erupted over the Colosseum.

Three giant Nevermore Grimm had landed on top of it and started pecking aggressively at the force-field on top. The mere sight of them caused equanimity to be evaporated in an instance and the sirens indicating a Grimm attack were set off.

' _Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner.'_

General Ironwood went up to the announcer's box and picked up the microphone. 'Ladies and gentlemen, please! There is no need for panic.' he said, but his voice was drowned out by the agonising sound of the Nevermores, which continued their assault. All of the audience fled, leaving only the Huntsmen and Huntresses left in the stadium.

Ironwood felt his scroll vibrating. He saw that Ozpin was calling and answered. 'Ozpin, I- I don't know how the Grimm-'

'You brought your army to my Kingdom, James.' Ozpin interrupted. 'Use it.'

Many of Ironwood's ships were under attack by multiple Nevermores and the captains were calling for as much backup as possible.

'This is Blue Four. Blue's Two and Three, fall into defensive position!' ordered the Atlas Captain of Blue Four.

'Roger! Blue Three, in position!'

'Blue Two, what's your status?'

There was no answer.

'Blue Two, come in! Someone answer me, dammit!'

Little did he know that the crew had been assaulted by the taciturn associate of the man who was being kept prisoner on that very ship: Neopolitan. She was an incredibly short woman with a flamboyant attire of pink, white and brown, was ruthless in direct combat and said virtually nothing with her own mouth. Neo was unorthodox in her fighting style and wielded an umbrella, which she used as a shield and distract her opponents. It also had a razor-sharp needle blade that was revealed when she closed the umbrella.

She found the cell where Roman Torchwick was being kept and unlocked it, holding his cane and bowler hat too.

'Well… it's about time.' he said with a grin. He couldn't have been happier to see her.

Roman skipped merrily to the cockpit and took control over the ship. He turned it to face the other squadrons and fired lasers at them. Blue Three and Four were sent crashing to the ground. 'Woohoo-hahahaha! Oh, it is good to be back!' he remarked joyfully.

Back down on the ground, a carrier jet arrived at Beacon on the ground.  
Outstepped members of the White Fang and the current leader of the unit in Vale: Adam Taurus. 'Bring them to their knees!' he said.

* * *

A multitude of species of Grimm were sprinting across the Campus and the immediate area surrounding Beacon. The Atlesian Knights were doing their best to kill as many as possible, but there were just too many.

Weiss and Blake ran through the fair grounds. They were distressed and shocked at the sight of the inordinate chaos.

'I don't believe this.' said Weiss dejectedly.

Blake took her scroll out of her pocket and called for her partner. 'Yang, are you okay?' she asked.

Yang was running across the dormitory corridor with her dog Zwei after watching the match from her dorm. 'I'm fine. Is Ruby with you? She's not answering her scroll.' she asked worryingly.

Little did they know that during the fight between Pyrrha and Penny, Ruby went into the corridors under the stadium to find Mercury, walking perfectly and carrying a sinister look on his person. He had destroyed Ruby's scroll with a shot from his boots before she could call for backup.

'No, she isn't.' Blake answered. 'But Yang, I'm sure she's fine. She's our leader, she can take care of herself.'

Yang clenched her fist, reassuring herself that her little sister was capable of handling whatever situation she was currently in. 'I'm heading to the docks near the courtyard. White Fang are releasing Grimm into the school!' she added.

'The White Fang is here?!' Blake exclaimed.  
Before Yang could reply though, the signal between the two was becoming faulty. All she could say was: 'Got to go! Be careful!'

Weiss turned to Blake. 'Blake, what are we going to do?' she asked.

Blake tapped her scroll, calling for her locker to be sent to her location. 'We're going to the docks, and we're doing our job.' she replied firmly.

The locker crashed into the grass behind her and opened to reveal Gambol Shroud.

Weiss nodded and did the same.

* * *

The Nevermores were still continuing their assault on the Colosseum force-field. Pyrrha and Penny were staring up at them in a trance.  
Ruby ran onto the stage. She put her hands around Penny and hugged her tightly. 'Oh, Penny! I'm so glad you're okay!' she cried.

'I'm glad to see that you're okay too, Ruby.' Penny replied in a slightly dreamlike tone.

'We've got to move, now!' Ruby went on to say.

'Ruby, what is going on?' Penny asked, unaware of the situation they were in.

Jaune came running onto the stage as well, hurrying towards Pyrrha. 'Pyrrha, please, snap out of it!' he yelled. She seemed to be having an absence and was completely oblivious to what was going on around her.

The three Nevermores soared up into the air. They were getting annoyed. With tremendous force, they nosedived towards the stadium and smashed their way through the defences. They landed in a heap on the stage and emitted a shockwave that sent the Ruby, Penny, Pyrrha and Jaune flying backwards.

As the Nevermores got up they prepared to attack by flying off the ground and speeding towards them. The four were still on the floor, in moderate pain. There was no way they could move out of the way in time.

But as if on cue, a whole bunch of lockers came pelleting out of the sky. They all landed directly on top of the three Nevemores. They fell to the ground once again and skidded on their breasts until they came to a halt right in front of the four Huntsmen and Huntresses. The Nevermores gasped for air right in front of their faces. Their breath stunk.

The lockers hissed open. Inside each were the respective weapons of many of the teams and their members that had fought in the Tournament. Besides the weapons of Team JNPR, everyone else had gathered in the colosseum: Team SSSN, Team ABRN, Team CFVY and Team FNKI.  
They all stood on top of the Nevermores, no longer engaged in friendly competition. It was a time for alliance. All the animosity towards each other was gone in a heartbeat.

Without much warning, the Nevermores regained enough strength to stand up again. The opportunity for teamwork and synergy to manifest did so. Team JNPR focused on one Nevermore. Jaune slashed at its feet whilst Ren leaped into the air and tore at its face. Pyrrha stabbed the bird from behind and Nora used her hammer to crush its head.

Arslan swung from the second Nevermore's beak and picked up Yatsuhashi with one arm around his torso. Sage then entered in the fray by using his immense muscle strength to leap into the air and join Yatsuhashi as they both used their massive swords to cleave the head of the Nevermore straight off of its body.

Flynt Coal of Team FNKI blasted his trumpet at the third Nevermore whilst Coco mowed it down with her minigun and Sun bashed it with his cudgel.

The three Nevermore's turned to ashes. The amount of coordination was astounding, especially since the teams from the different Kingdoms barely knew each other, but this was testimony to how training as a Huntsman or Huntress makes you adaptable to many different situations.

Every one of them stood in a crowd, pleased with what they had just done, but it wasn't over. Of course it wasn't over yet.  
An army of Griffons swarmed around the Colosseum. They all stood, armed and ready to fend them off.

'Anybody got a plan of attack?' Neptune asked.

'Sun. I need your scroll.' said Ruby.

Sun threw it too her with his tail. She then used it to summon Crescent Rose in her locker.  
Ruby ran over to it as it opened, but a Griffon landed before she could reach it. It roared at her and she backed away nervously.

A gunshot exploded from behind her and a shot was fired into the Griffon's shoulder. It flew away in pain.  
Ruby turned around to see Professor Port and Dr Oobleck.  
'Students. I think it would be best for you to leave.' Port said as though he were giving out helpful advice on any old day in the classroom.

'But we can fi-' Ruby began to say, but was interrupted by Oobleck.

'Miss Rose.' he said. 'This day will surely go down in Remnant's history. I'd prefer it if my students could live to tell about it.'

Ruby nodded in compliance. All the students ran towards the exit – except for Velvet, who took a picture of Ruby holding her scythe first.  
Port and Oobleck stayed behind to deal with the Griffons.

* * *

Evacuation was a nightmare. The Amity Colosseum was a floating arena, so transportation consisted of meagre aircraft that could only hold a set number of people at once.

As this was happening, ships were being deployed onto the walkways, letting loose more Grimm. Ironwood saw his Knights getting ripped apart by Beowolves. One of them noticed him and Ironwood glared at it as if to say: _'Oh now you've done it!_ '.

The Beowolf and the General charged at each other. The Grimm was on all fours and Ironwood picked up the pace, letting loose a shout of anger that was unprecedented for someone as sophisticated as him. To anyone watching, it seemed as though Ironwood had lost his marbles. But he hadn't. Ironwood pulled out a revolver from his jacket, slid under the Beowolf – that had thought Ironwood was going to jump over him – and shot its belly twice.

The two of them stopped themselves and turned around to confront each other once again, with Ironwood tearing away at the ground with his bare hands to stop himself from sliding away. The Beowolf ran at him once for a second round. Ironwood shot at it again, but it was unfaltering.  
As it reached Ironwood, it swung its hand, trying to claw the General's head off with its right hand, but Ironwood ducked under it and then did the unimaginable, in what can only be described as _'freaking awesome!'._

He caught the Beowolf's left hand, shot its right foot to make it jump off the ground in pain, and then swung it in the air with one hand before slamming it into the ground and putting a lethal bullet through its skull.  
The creature dissolved to ashes.

The Teams all came running out of the stadium towards Ironwood, just after he had displayed his flashy moves.

'What's going on?' Ruby asked.

'Grimm are crawling all over the city. The White Fang has invaded Beacon and to make matters worse, some- vagabond has seized one of my ships. Until we regain command, the skies are out of our control. So I'm-' he pulled out his revolver and shot a Grimm Creep that had sneaked up upon the teams. He shot it in the head and it stood no more. '-going to take it back.' he finished. 'Penny, please come with me.' he said.

'Yes, Sir.' she replied and strolled onto the dropship with her father.

Before they could leave though, Jaune asked: 'What should we do?'

'You have two choices: Defend your Kingdom and your school… or save yourselves.' The teams looked around at each other, giving and receiving glances. 'No one will fault you if you leave. Let's move out!'  
Ironwood and Penny moved onto the ramp. Penny waved at Ruby and gave her a reassuring smile before the back closed and the aircraft took off.

The teams still said nothing and continued to exchange glances, trying to come to an agreement on what to do without using words.  
Sun eventually broke the silence. 'I mean- come on.'

'We can take a ship to Beacon.' Jaune suggested.

Everyone jogged to the nearest aircraft, save for Ruby, who stared fixatedly at the dropship that took Penny away.

* * *

Back aboard Blue Two, Torchwick was having the time of his life, experimenting with the control panel. 'Hmm, let's see. What does- this button do?' He pressed it and a rumbling sound in the distance went off. 'Oh, fun!' he remarked cheerfully. 'How about- this one?'

All the Atlesian Knights in the cargo hold were ejected and they fell down to earth.

'Hmph.' said Torchwick who hadn't noticed anything happen. 'Alright… Nothing.'

Neo approached Torchwick and handed him a scroll. 'Oh, ho ho.' he said with a mischievous smile. He held it close to his face before inserting it into a slot for scrolls. 'Now, this one, this one's gonna be fun.'

The scroll was infected with a computer virus: one which would make all of the Atlesian Androids go rogue.

In the city, Goodwitch, Qrow and Cardin Winchester were fighting off Grimm with the Atlesian Knights, only to find that their eyes became red and turned their weapons on them.

This also happened to the Aircraft that Ironwood and Penny were on. The Knights inside the ship fired the guns, causing it to crash.

Ruby witnessed this from the window of the ship that she and the teams had taken to get to Beacon. She clasped her hand over her mouth and ran to the back of the door.

'Ruby! What are you doing?!' Sun cried out, but Ruby did not stop. Her mind was set: set on taking out the perpetrators on Blue Two. She jumped off her ship and used her Semblance to get back to the Colosseum lobby. She ran into the stadium and made a dash towards her locker. In a daring feet that you would've expected from someone as tenacious as Ruby, she punched in a custom code to send herself to Blue Two and held onto the locker as it rocketed into the air.

She saw the ship and landed clumsily onto its left wing.

Inside the cockpit, Roman felt and heard the impact and growled in frustration. 'Go see what that is.' he instructed to Neo in a very monotonous tone.

Neo nodded and skipped outside.

Roman cracked his neck. He had a funny feeling of what or _who_ had made landed on the ship.

* * *

Weiss and Blake arrived at the Beacon courtyard to see the rogue Atlesian Knights. They aimed their crosshairs at the two Huntresses.

'Look out!' Blake cried out and tackled Weiss to the floor to protect her from the oncoming shots. Five Atlesian Knight surrounded them, all in point-blank range of shooting them.

The two of them slowly stood up, readying themselves to move like lightning and make a counterattack.

But before they could do anything, a surge of blue energy balls came from the front of the courtyard. The balls of energy knocked over three of the Knights and obliterated them. A ring went around the last two and held them in place before they too were destroyed.

Weiss and Blake turned around to see a man with entirely blue skin and tattoos over his body. He carried a large scroll on his back and had a face of utmost urgency, as though the world was nearly at its end.

They raised their weapons and put themselves in a stance to defend themselves against the blue stranger.

'You two girls leave!' he ordered. 'It's not safe here!' His voice was coarse and agitated. He looked hostile with his glowing blue eyes and very alien-like appearance, but he didn't seem interested in harming the two Huntresses.

'We can defend ourselves, you know.' said Blake.

'Yes.' agreed Weiss. 'And who are _you_ exactly?''

'It doesn't matter who I am, but if you say that you know your way around a fight, then help me destroy these robots! We can't let them destroy this place!'

Weiss and Blake nodded. They weren't sure if they could trust this person, but the imminent forthcoming situation called for as many hands as possible. The three of them teamed up to rid the area of Atlesian Knights.

Ryze shot blasts of runic energy all around him, spraying the Knights with hexes before finishing them off with amplified blasts of magic.

Weiss danced around the courtyard at a blistering speed with her glyphs and sliced the Knights in two with her Myrtenaster rapier. She was making quick work of them.

Blake noticed members of the White Fang approaching, and she ran towards the Beacon tower to deal with them. They were all novices compared to Blake and she used Gambol Shroud, cleaving nearby crooks and hitting ones that were further away with its kusarigama function.

Weiss launched herself off of one of her glyphs to join in the fray against the White Fang after the Atlesian Knights were mostly all gone.

As he defeated the last of the Knights, Ryze sprinted over to where the action was and cast his runic energy against the suspicious gang members that the two girls were attacking. He gritted his teeth as he found that his magic wasn't as potent against these people as he had anticipated. They seemed to have a protective shield around them: like a force-field, and he was having to concentrate to make his spells have any sort of damaging effect against them.

Nevertheless, as a trio, they subdued the members of the White Fang who had just arrived, and sent only the few remaining ones scampering away in fright.  
They caught their breath before turning to their left to see Atlesian soldiers struggling to fend off rogue Atlesian Paladins.  
But this wasn't the end. Grimm were swarming into the courtyard, starting with an Alpha Beowolf, which was massive in size.

'Split up!' Ryze yelled. I'll take the front, you two go somewhere else!'

'Alright, let's do it.' Weiss said in agreement. She stayed to cover the immediate area.

Blake ran towards the dining hall, thinking that more members of the White Fang must surely be coming from an unpredictable angle.  
The hall was in ruins. All the windows were smashed, and most of the tables were either toppled over or decommissioned with broken legs.  
She heard the yell of a person in pain and looked inside the hall to see who was in need of help.

An expression of mortified shock splattered itself across her visage. 'No.' she moaned fearfully.  
For a split second, she thought that her eyes were deceiving her, just like Yang's had, but there was no denying the distinct outfit, hairstyle and sword that the person she saw was wearing.

'Adam?'  
'Hello, my darling.' He replied with mixed emotions for seeing her again.

The teams arrived at the courtyard and saw the mayhem, just in time to give the help that Weiss, Blake, Ryze and the Atlesian Soldiers desperately needed. They all found a Grimm each and began to take it on.  
The distribution of the work was proving to be effective, but they were still being overpowered by the sheer number of Grimm.

* * *

On a rooftop in the city nearby, Cinder, Emerald and Mercury were observing the battle from a distance. The three of them were perturbed.

'You think this is gonna work?' Mercury asked, who was doubtful at how things had gone so far. 'The robot girl isn't dead and you didn't get the opportunity to make the broadcast to give your speech.'

'Thing's… aren't all going according to plan.' Cinder admitted. She was mildly anxious.

'Ugh, if only those stupid Nevermores hadn't attacked prematurely, then this would all be going more swimmingly.' Emerald groaned.

'Still, the Grimm seem to be doing exactly what we wanted them to do, even without my threatening message and the Robot's death.' Cinder commented.

The three of them said nothing momentarily.

'Why do you think the Nevermores came when they did though?' Emerald asked. 'Pyrrha hadn't killed the robot and the match was going fine from the audience's perspective. It's the Grimm that have _caused_ the chaos themselves.'

'Something else must have brought them here – or _someone_.' Cinder surmised. 'Someone with emotions so full of despair and anger that none of us can comprehend it. Someone who has lived through the worst possible life imaginable.'

'But who could that person be, other than Ozpin?' Emerald responded.

'I don't know.' said Cinder. 'But whoever it is…' Emerald and Mercury turned to face her. 'I am glad that they have met woes for our cause.'

* * *

Professor Ozpin was standing in his office, both of his hands on his desk and his eyes focused on the screen in front of him. He could see Atlesian Soldiers struggling to take on just one Grimm Deathstalker; buildings on fire; people on rooftops waving for help, and even more Grimm fighting their way into the city and the academy.

He had avoided going into combat himself, so as to gauge the situation and how to approach it from his office above the ground, but he could no longer stand around and simply just observe the battle: he had to get his hands dirty himself.  
Ozpin picked up his cane and walked towards the elevator.

Before he could cross the room however, the ground shook; like a two second earthquake. It could be felt from miles around, and whilst it was only for a moment, it was most certainly not a good sign.

The outer layers of Mountain Glenn fissured. Beneath it, a terror was unfolding. Two set of claws kicked their way out of the rock. One second later, a pair of glowing eyes peered through a crack in the mountain; and then it exploded as a ginormous Grimm Dragon escaped from its tomb. It rose into the air, screeched and then made a direct beeline towards Beacon Academy.  
As it flew across the landscape, it oozed dark, sticky liquid that dripped off of its body. There were a multitude of these black blobs. The sight of this Dragon was horrifying enough, but as the liquid made contact with the floor, each puddle spawned another creature of Grimm. They littered the streets of Mountain Glenn and the city nearby Beacon.

The Headmaster returned to the office window and watched with a grimace expression at the sight of the Dragon flying towards his school. He knew that he should help the battle, but it was imperative that the tower did not fall.

Thousands of miles away, the screech of the Grimm Dragon stirred a fire in a monster's heart.

* * *

Blake dubiously backed away. Every inch of her body was screaming for her to turn her back on Adam. On top of everything that this evening had brought, her ex-partner was _not_ something she wanted to deal with.

'Running away again?' said Adam with a twisted expression. 'Is that what you've become my love? A coward?'

'Why are you doing this?'

'You and I were going to change the world, remember? We were destined to light the fires of revolution!'  
Adam stamped his foot on a civilian at his feet. 'Consider this the spark.' He raised his katana and was about the stab him in the chest, when Blake rushed in with her own blade to force Adam away from the victim. With gritted teeth, she held him back.

The edged of their blades wrestled against each other, creating sparks as their sharp edges generated friction. 'I'm. Not. Running!' she said.

'You. Will.' Adam said in retaliation. He was naturally stronger than Blake and could withstand the pressure being forced upon him for longer. With this advantage, he used the element of surprise to boot Blake squarely in the jaw, kicking her backwards.

A Grimm Creep rushed towards the vulnerable Blake, but Adam shot it with the gun component of his sheath: Blush. 'But not, before you've suffered for your betrayal, my love.'

Blake's mind was working against her. She still felt marginal levels of interest for Adam and was finding it almost impossible to fight back. But even _if_ he was nothing more than a generic thug whom Blake had no connection with, she was exhausted from fighting the Atlesian Knights, and the White Fang that night. She was also tired and sleep deprived.

Adam continued to kick her as she lay on the floor. 'This could have been our day! Can't you see that?!'

'I never wanted this!' Blake shouted back. 'I wanted equality! I wanted peace!' She staggered to her knees and made a feeble attempt to shoot him, but Adam effortlessly blocked the bullets with his blade.

'What you want is impossible!' he yelled, and smacked her in the face. She dropped back to her defenceless position on the floor. 'But I understand. Because all I want… is you, Blake.' He kicked her weapon out of her hand before she could make another move with it. 'And as I set upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves… I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love.'

'Blake!' called out a familiar voice. It was Yang's. She quickly took down a White Fang Member. 'Blake! Where are you?!'

A petrified Blake stared in the direction of Yang's voice. She was just outside the dining hall, no more than ten metres away.  
'Starting with her.' said Adam ruthlessly. He raised his sword to stab Blake in the abdomen.

But he was interrupted.

The ground shook as something fell out of the sky. It landed just outside the dining hall, on the opposite side of where Yang stood, making a large impact crater around it.  
'Stop right where you are!' bellowed an unfamiliar voice.

Adam turned around to see what the disturbance was, but did not react in time to an extremely long spear that was sent through his sword arm. He dropped Wilt and Blush, clutching his arm in pain and tried to pull the spear out. 'Argh! Who dare-'  
A figure flew forward and hit Adam in the face with a massive shield. Adam was launched across the dining hall and collided with the wall. He rebounded off of it and his neck fell into the grasp of the person who had bashed him with a shield.

He wore a golden helm alight with a small flame on top. His thick beard and fierce brown eyes could be seen beneath. He wore a blue cape around his neck, and a blue codpiece. His shield was embellished with a golden rim, two large and two small spikes at the top, and a symbol of a sword was crested on its face. His spear, majestically carved and ornamented, was longer than the man himself. His muscles were large, but arguable the most fascinating feature of all however, was his bare chest and a giant scar that rode across it.

The man punched Adam in the face hard and then dropped him.  
Adam collapsed and looked up at the man. There was something so imposing about this man. He had not felt this frightened in a long time.

'You pick on the weak, do you?' said the man. His voice was surprisingly calm up close, yet it spoke with might (and a strange accent) like that of a humble warrior. He certainly looked like one. Blake and Yang just stared at him in perplexed shock.

'Piss off! What I do is none of your conc- argh!'

The warrior pulled his spear out of Adam's arm and stabbed it through his left knee cap. 'Speak again with your forked tongue and my spear shall find its way through your other leg. What has this young lady done to provoke you?'

Adam clutched his nose where he had been hit. 'She betrayed me! I am bringing justice upon her and mankind!' Adam shouted. 'Who are you and who do you think you are, barging into our business?!'

'I am merely a man, but _you_ , you are not a man, only a coward.' said the warrior. 'I only see you attacking a person who does not deserve your corrupted attitude and your blade that is stained with evil. Leave this place now and recognise the error of your ways, or I shall stab you again and again, and teach you that lesson myself.'

'Grrr, like hell…' Adam muttered, but these were the wrong words.

The warrior stamped on Adam's torso, pulled out the spear from Adam's leg and then thrust it into his abdomen: where Adam himself had attempted to impale Blake. He then brought down his shield and slammed it into Adam's throat.  
He gagged violently, kicked his legs and put his hangs against his shield, struggling to breathe.

'Stop!' Blake cried out all of a sudden. 'Don't kill him!'

The warrior turned around to see Blake getting off the floor and running over to him. 'I'm will not kill him, but he must realise his flaws.' he responded. The warrior lifted his shield and let Adam breath again. 'Flee now, and do not show your face here again.' he ordered.

Adam staggered to his feet and attempted to reach for his weapon, but the warrior jabbed his spear into Adam's arm once again. 'Ahh!'

'Did you not hear me? I said leave.' the warrior reiterated. He pulled out the spear and swung it to hit Adam on the left side of his head with its hilt.

Adam scrambled away from the warrior and Blake. He leaned against the back wall with one arm, the other clutching the wound through his intestines. 'You'll pay for this!' he said. 'Both of you will!'

The warrior threw his spear with incredible speed and it went through Adam's left arm, pinning him to the wall. 'What a pathetic creature you are.' he said. He walked up to Adam and punched him multiple times in the face before kicking his groin, hard. He pulled the spear out of the wall. 'Do you have any more bravado? Any more petty words you wish to dribble?'

Adam said nothing more and half ran – half limped away, utterly humiliated and defeated.

'Precisely what I would have done, had I been him...'

'Blake!' Yang called out, who had been watching the scene from outside the hall.

Blake got up and saw Yang running towards her.  
Yang put her arms around her partner and embraced her in a tight hug. 'Are you okay?' she asked concernedly.

'I'm… okay.' she said in nothing more than a whisper.

Both Blake and Yang turned to face the warrior. 'Thank you.' Blake said simply.

'Thanking me is not necessary.' he said humbly.

'W-who are you?' Blake asked.

'Who am I?'

The two girls nodded.

He took off his helmet and placed it on top of the tip of his spear. 'I am a from another world. My birth name is Atreus: a man of war. Some know me as the "Pantheon", once a god in the body of a man, but that is no longer who I am.'

Blake and Yang looked at each other, thoroughly intrigued by Atreus.

'It is probably hard to believe, but I sensed a battle somewhere far from my home and knew that there must be something worth fighting for. It seems I was right. You and that parasite were the first things I saw.'

'I'm… I'm very grateful.' Blake replied. 'And I believe you too: that you're from another world.'

'Me too, I believe you.' Yang nodded in agreement.

'I have already made a friendly encounter. My heart beats with relief.' said Pantheon. 'However, I sense a battle in progress over there.' he said, pointing towards the courtyard.

'Yeah,' Blake confirmed. 'And we could use all the help we can get.'

'Then I will gladly fight with you for a land that is in need of assistance.' said Pantheon.

'You're looking for these black creatures known as the "Grimm", as well as robotic androids and people who look similar to the man that you just beat up.' Blake explained. 'They're everywhere. You can't miss them.'

'I understand. Thank you.' Pantheon nodded. He put his helmet back on his head.

The three of them ran towards the courtyard. All the students, soldiers and Ryze had a corner covered with an enemy occupying their time and weaponry, but there was still room for more fighters to get their slice of the action.

'Blake…' Yang said.

'Hmm?'

'Who was that guy?'

Blake paused before answering. 'That guy… he's my… old partner.'

'Someone you used to work with?'

'Yes…' They were distracted briefly. 'We'll talk about it later.' said Blake as they ducked under the swipe of a Grimm Beowolf and began to fight it.

* * *

Ruby climbed onto the deck of Blue Two and watched as the Grimm Dragon and schools of Nevermores and Griffons flew past her. She had never seem so many Grimm at a time, and the sound they emitted made her want to pull her ears out.

A Griffon landed on the deck and Ruby proceeded to kill it. She made quick work of it, running rings around it as she swung her scythe, but had to catch her breath after the Griffon succumbed to loss.

She turned around once she had recovered enough stamina to see Neo holding a scroll about fifteen metres away from her.  
She took a picture of Ruby. As she did, her outfit began to change from an Atlesian uniform to her regular ornate clothes of pink, white and brown – starting at her feet and up to her top, as though it were a hologram. She winked at Ruby.

Roman received the photo of a startled Ruby, with a caption of _"Guess who?"  
_ He looked at the photo for less than a second before groaning. 'Oh, you can NOT be serious.' he said to himself. He picked up the scroll and walked out of the cockpit to go and deal with the exasperating thorn of roses is his side. Roman had secretly enjoyed some of the encounters he had had with Ruby up until then. He had gleaned mild amusement and pleasure from how cute her persistence was.  
But this time, he was sick of her indefatigability. Enough was enough. Right now, he could not afford her getting in the way of this crucial moment.

Ruby and Neo were locked in a skirmish – well more specifically, Ruby was attempting to hit Neo, but she was untouchable: too nimble and agile to even be grazed. She shot from her rifle, but Neo created a physical illusion of herself with her Semblance. It shattered to reveal Roman behind it, who stepped into the fight and fired a blast of Dust from his cane at Ruby.  
She did not block it in time and was launched back by both the force of the shot and the strong wind. Ruby used her scythe to stop herself from sliding any further across the deck.

Roman managed to keep his cool demeanour and strolled up to Ruby, who was lying on her front, holding onto the handle of her scythe. He rested both of his hands on his cane and eyed Ruby as though he possessed the power and control of the situation between the two of them. Even if Ruby made any sudden movements, Neo was there to back him up. 'Little Red, little Red… You are just _determined_ to be the hero of Vale, aren't you?'

'What are you doing? Without these ships, the Grimm will destroy everything!'

'That's the plan!' he pointed his cane at Ruby's head, but she reflexively swiped it out of the way behind her, so that he missed his shot at her head.

Ruby stood up, but was instantly taken down by Neo, who danced over her head before kicking Ruby on the side of her face. Even though Ruby instantly recovered, Neo kicked her multiple times where she was uncovered and almost sent her falling off of the ship. Ruby managed to regain her balance and turned around to try and reason with Roman. 'But why?! What do you get out of it?!'

'You're asking the wrong questions, Red. It's not what I have to gain. It's that I can't afford to lose!'

She wasn't going to give up. Ruby dashed at Roman, but Neo jumped in to parry the attack with her boots.  
Ruby was like a tennis ball, and Neo and Roman were the rackets.

The sinister accomplice moved swiftly around Ruby, disarming and throwing her into the air before kicking her towards Roman.  
The crime lord used the gun feature of his cane to launch it with great force directly into Ruby's nose before catching it and firing another shot of red dust at her.  
She only managed to save herself from falling straight off the ship by catching her scythe, which was miraculously dug into the edge of the deck and gave her something to hang onto. Still, Ruby was in a precarious position and at the complete mercy of the two criminals who had overpowered her.

Roman walked over to where Ruby dangled. 'I may be a gambling man, but even I know there's some bets you just don't take.'  
Neo closed her umbrella to unsheathe the needle in her umbrella. She dragged it along the deck and pointed it straight at Ruby.

'Like it or not,' Roman continued. 'the people who hired me are going to change the world. You can't stop 'em. I can't stop 'em!

Ruby kicked a Nevermore that tried to bite her leg as Roman was giving his exposition. She then noticed the button that opened Neo's umbrella.  
'You know the old saying. If you can't beat 'em-' but before he could say "join 'em.", Ruby pressed the button on Neo's umbrella. She gasped as her tiny body was jerked forward and carried away by the wind.

'NEO!' Roman cried out after her.

Ruby took this moment of distraction to climb back onto the deck. 'I don't care what you say! We will stop them, and I will stop you! BET ON THAT!' She rushed headfirst at Roman, but without her scythe.

Roman fired Red dust and managed to catch it in mid-air with his handle and sent it in a wave at Ruby. She tripped over the blast and fell backwards. Roman ran up to her and bludgeoned her with his cane and then fired it point-blank at her chest, which sent her gliding across the deck on her back.  
He walked over to her once again and began to chastise her. 'Ya got spirit Red, but this is the real world!'

He hit her.

'The real world is cold!'

He hit her again as she was on the floor.

'The real world doesn't care about spirit!'

He raised his cane again, but this time Ruby kicked him in the kneecap and he jumped backwards. Ruby got up and glared at him. Roman was not finished with his reprimand though. This was the last straw. He was genuinely angry. He hated Ruby with every fibre of his being. 'You wanna be a hero? Then play the part and die like every other Huntsman in history!'

He hit Ruby one last time with as much force as he could muster. 'As for me, I'll do what I do best. Lie. Steal. Cheat. And Sur-'

Roman Torchwick didn't get to finish speaking.

Something tore its way through the ship, cutting it in two and creating an empty gap between them. It was a blur of red: almost like Ruby's Semblance, but it didn't leave behind rose petals. It was _massive_ and flew past them, leaving behind a small line of red light and red ashes behind it.

Both Ruby and Roman didn't see what it was, but Blue Two's power and autopilot cut out. The ship began to fall.  
With no time to haste, Ruby used her Semblance to rush back to her scythe and tugged it out of the deck.  
Roman ran up to the bow of the ship and looked for a place to secure himself with his hook.

Ruby jumped off the ship and used the rifle to propel herself and break her fall as she landed on a flat roof in the city. She saw the two halves of the ship fall away from each other. Ruby could make out Roman's white coat and orange hair, holding on for dear life. When he was close enough to the ground, he jumped and only just managed to grab hold of the ledge of a building. The ship crashed and the engine exploded.

Squinting her eyes, Ruby thought she could see a tiny little golden thing flying away from the wreckage.

* * *

There was just no end to the Grimm and other enemies in the courtyard .The Grimm Dragon was circling, dropping in even more Grimm that needed to be dealt with.

Jaune was tiring out. This level of combat was still beyond what he was yet capable of and needed the help of Pyrrha to simply defend himself.

Ren's bullets were doing virtually nothing to the bigger, tougher Grimm, and StormFlower's blades were a bit too short for him to do any lasting damage.

Sage and Yatsuhashi had been swinging their swords around for ages. Lactic acid was building up in their arms and they struggled to even lift their large, heavily blades, let alone hit Grimm with them.

Coco had almost run out of ammunition for her minigun and Velvet had already used up all of her photographed weapons from her camera.

Neon and Reese had been acting as distractions by speedily moving in and out of combat with Grimm, playing a hit-and-run game, but their tactics were becoming impotent – nothing more than tired tricks.

Ryze's accuracy and power in his spells were becoming weaker as he became more and more exhausted.

They were all enervated, but no matter how you viewed the situation, they had all done a marvellous job at protecting Beacon as well as they could.

But nothing could have prepared them for what came next…

* * *

Something landed at the front of the courtyard, squashing a few Grimm Creeps underneath it. In an instant, everyone backed away. It was an _enormous_ towering beast of some sort, standing at over fifty feet tall. It had the body dimensions of a human, but it was far from being one. Its legs, shoulders and head looked like they were made of reinforced armour, mixed with rock. The head had two massive horns and glowing red eyes on its face. The rest of its body was red, including a large pair of wings on its back. Its chest had a red heart pulsating in it.

If that wasn't enough, it carried a gigantic red sword that was bigger than a dozen people combined, with incredibly hard and sharp edges. To top it all off, the sword itself had a heart that was pumping to the same rhythm as the beast's own one.

The monster starred at the people in front of him. No one was sure what it was looking for, but if it was a fight, then there was no way they could win against it. Even the Grimm had stopped in their tracks.

Ozpin saw the beast from his office. After the Dragon had appeared, he had decided to stay inside and protect the tower, should it directly attack it. But this was no Grimm. He had absolutely no idea what it was, but there was no other word to describe it other than "intimidating".  
He left his desk, this time actually running towards the elevator and made his way to the ground floor. He opened his scroll and called Goodwitch. It took her a moment to answer. She must have been busy with a Grimm.

'Glynda, did you hear that roar?' Ozpin asked.

'I did, Ozpin. What was it?'

'Get Ironwood, Qrow, Port, Oobleck and as many reinforcements as you can and come back to Beacon now!'

'Was it the Dragon?'

'No, it was something different. It's landed in the courtyard and we need you here immediately!'

'Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can!' said Glynda, and she hung up.

The Headmaster made his way into the courtyard. Everyone was huddled near the fountain.  
Pantheon look at the sword the beast was holding. His perennial enemy. He felt uneasy, but knew that he could face him.  
Ryze stood at the side of all the students. He gulped.

He had seen creatures just like this one before.

* * *

Cinder, Emerald and Mercury were still on the exact same rooftop, spectating the battle. They had seen Blue Two being split in half in a flash and the thing that had done it. The creature landed in the courtyard, and they could the side of its upper body.

'Umm, should we worry about that thing?' Mercury asked.

'If we're out of harm's way, we should be fine.' Cinder replied.

'We don't even know what it is though.' Emerald commented.

'Well it doesn't look like it's a friend of the enemies'.'

'But it's certainly not a friend of ours either. What if it's hazardous to our plan? We still need to find the Fall Maiden and the Relic, and we don't want that _thing_ accidently destroying them.'

'It's most likely that both the Fall Maiden and the Relic are kept underground, out of the reaches of most people. Once this is all over, we'll go through the wreckage and find what we're looking for.'

'And you're sure this plan is going to work?' Mercury questioned.  
Cinder looked at him and smiled. 'I'm sure.'

They noticed something above them: it was floating down towards them. It was gold and sparkling. The thing seemed to be sentient, for it whispered and made the sound of chime bells. The little thing had two legs, no set of arms and a large pair of eyes that were closed.

Cinder reached up to catch it. The critter felt oddly weightless in her hands. It was both hot _and_ cold, as though it was usually full of life, but had recently been injured.

'It has… a lot of power in it.'

'What, that thing?' Mercury snorted. 'It's tiny and harmless looking.'

'I can feel its overwhelming power.' Cinder insisted.

'Again, you don't know what that thing is. Best let it go in case-' said Emerald.

Cinder squeezed it hard before Emerald could say anything more. Its eyes opened wide open and it squealed as a mist of golden air was emitted from them. Instinctively, she reached out her right hand, whilst still holding onto the little thing with her left one, and the golden mist was absorbed into her hand.

She began to glow and rose up into the air. Her aura was doused with energy she had never felt before.  
Emerald and Mercury both took three steps back as they saw Cinder being empowered by this small bulb.  
Cinder stuffed the little creature into her sleeve. She smiled euphorically and gently touched the ground again.

'H-how do you feel?' Emerald asked nervously.

'Never better.' Cinder replied with a demon's smile. 'This will make our search much easier.'

Another gigantic roar came from the direction of the red juggernaut that had landed in the Beacon Courtyard.

'Or… not.' said Mercury sarcastically.

* * *

The beast slammed its sword down to the ground with one hand. 'I. Sense. CHAOS! It screamed. The volume of its voice was beyond deafening. 'Kneel mortals! So I may split your shoulders from your spine!'  
The Grimm recovered their bravery and followed their natural instinct to feast on negative emotions. They ran towards the monster. It swung its sword at the oncoming Beowolves and Ursa. The power in its swing was unreal. They all scattered, and were sent towards the academy. Everyone ducked just in time. ' _Foolish animals!_ ' it roared. ' _I will kill all of you! I will destroy EVERYTHING!_ '

It walked towards the fountain where the makeshift army of Beacon stood.

'Everybody, spread out!' shouted Ryze.

The students were panic-stricken. The Grimm Dragon was at least mindless and had not yet even noticed the people on the ground. _This_ was something else entirely.

'We can split up and attack it from all sides!' Pantheon suggested.

'Yes, let's do it!' said Nora.

'Be careful everyone! Only shoot at it from range! Do not go in close!' Ryze said to everyone.

Reese and Neon took the left and right respectively and stuck to the edges of the courtyard as they went around it, hoping to grab its attention away from everyone else.  
Those with ranged weaponry all took a position around it and aimed their weapons.

The Atlesian Soldiers fired their weapons.

Nora fired her grenades.

Neptune shot blasts of electricity.

Sun disassembled his staff into his signature "gun-chucks".

Pyrrha used her Rifle.

Ren shot StormFlower rapidly.

Yang fired her gauntlets.

Ryze casted as many spells as he could.

Coco fired the remainder of her ammunition.

Pantheon threw his spears (unsure if he should confront him head on again).

Blake shot as many bullets as she could.

Flynt even blew his trumpet to try and push it back.

The rest had to stay back, so as not to be in the range of the monster's humongous sword.  
Ozpin watched from the entrance to the academy. He was both proud of the students, but also worried for them.

But alas, the army of Beacon defenders were doing nothing to the juggernaut.  
Velvet tried taking a picture of it, but it was impossible for her to mimic the movements and wield the weapon of a creature that large.

It was being pelleted with projectiles, but was unflinching. Flynt's trumpet could not budge it even slightly.

' _Insects! I do NOT DIE!_ ' It jumped into the air with its wings and slammed the ground where Flynt and Coco stood. They only just managed to jump out of the way, but the resulting shockwave toppled them off their feet, and as well as Yang, Blake, Ren and some Atlesian Soldiers. It laughed. ' _Hahaha! Come closer! I will show you true ANNIHILATION!_ '

Ruby was running towards Beacon as fast as she could. The sounds of the beast's voice could be heard from miles away and she knew that help was needed.  
But as she arrived, stopped and stared wide-eyed at the source of the diatribe.

' _Death to ALL! I will bring destruction on this world!_ ' It swept its sword around it, forcing everyone to run back.  
It then looked up into the sky and saw the Grimm Dragon coming for it. The juggernaut flew up high into the air, grabbed its tail and slammed it into the ground.  
Every single person fell down as the shockwave ruptured across the entire area.  
It cut the Dragon's wings off and stabbed it through the neck. The Dragon screamed, but its dying cry was nothing compared to that of its slayer.

' _I am a DARKIN!_ '

' _I am AATROX!_ '

' _I AM THE WORLD-ENDER!_ '

' _EVERYTHING WILL DIE!_ '

* * *

Credit to **'** _ **brave kid'**_ for suggesting that I make an addition where a champion comes in and stops Adam from harming Blake and cutting Yang's arm off. _  
_


	13. The Alternate Fall of Beacon Part II

**Chapter 13** – The Alternate Fall of Beacon Part II

'NO!' Emerald cried out. 'That wasn't supposed to happen!'

The Grimm Dragon screamed as it was dragged down out of the sky. The three of them couldn't see exactly what was going on from where they stood, but they heard a distinct tearing sound of its wings and a reflexive gag as it was stabbed through the throat. It then disintegrated into ashes and scattered, leaving behind a thick cloud of black smoke.

The thing that had killed it was big, but still not as large as the Dragon had been! How could it have slayed the Dragon with so much ease?

Cinder, Emerald and Mercury covered their ears as it fulminated with its thunderous voice.  
They uncovered their ears once it had stopped shouting.

'Are you sure we shouldn't be concerned about that thing now?!' said Mercury rather loudly to Cinder. His ears were ringing.

Emerald stamped her left foot and clenched her fists at her sides. 'Yes! We should! We could have helped the Dragon if we'd made a move!'

'So what do you reckon we do?' Mercury asked.

'We go and stop it!'

'Hold up.' said Cinder, putting her hand in front of Emerald. She was unsettled: the Dragon had been a key part in their plan to destroy the Beacon Tower. Now they had to bypass its untimely demise. 'There is no way we can take that thing on. It'll just shatter through our aura and kill us.'

Emerald stopped, her frustration rising exponentially. 'Well then what do we do?!'

'The thing seems to be holding its own against the kids. Right now, we and _it_ have a common target, against them. It seems to be very destructive in its nature, calling itself

"The World-Ender". If we let it do what it wants, then maybe it'll kill the kids for us.'

Emerald opened her mouth to object, but could not formulate any retaliation. She pondered Cinder's suggestion. 'So let's just wait?! Let's just hope that it does what we want it to do?! Is that what you're proposing?!'

'Have patience girl!' said Cinder. She rarely raised her voice and coughed to clear her throat. 'I am not happy that it has killed the Dragon, but we should be able to work around its absence. I can feel this power swirling inside of me.'

'Do you think that golden bug you crushed has really provided you with enough power to slay that giant?'

'Maybe not enough to outright kill it, but enough to do _some_ damage or lure it away when combined with what I already have.'  
Emerald and Mercury looked at each other tensely.

'If the battle continues, it'll tire itself out.' said Cinder. 'But if it _is_ the "World-Ender", then we'll intervene if things look dire.'

Emerald sighed. She had sworn loyalty to be at her mistress' side, ever since she had given her a purpose in life – a reason to live on – but Cinder's thought-process was questionable sometimes.

'It is essential that we find the Fall Maiden and the Relic,' said Cinder. 'but there are two other bonuses we could get if things play out nicely.'

'What might they be?' Emerald asked.

'Bigger payments for both of us?' Mercury asked.

'Hmm' Cinder chuckled lightly. 'Maybe if the job is done well enough, but I was thinking more like… an extra set of heads.'

'Whose?'

'Firstly, there is dear old Ozpin. It would be an absolute pleasure to see him out of the picture. However, I also really want to see Pyrrha Nikos bite the dust too.'

'And are you going to assume that A… Aytrox – I can't remember its name exactly – is going to kill her tonight?' asked Emerald.

'I would rather… land the lethal shot myself.' Cinder replied slyly. 'I don't think we'll be standing here for much longer, so prepare yourselves. A grand fight awaits us.'

With her newfound power in her arms, Cinder stood with her knees ever so slightly bent as she watched the World-Ender unleash its unrelenting wrath.

* * *

Aatrox pounded the ground with his right fist.

A large rift was created, and sent out a red tether that grabbed the legs of everyone in the courtyard, pulling them towards it. The only person who wasn't affected was Reese because she remained above the ground with her hoverboard.

Everyone else struggled as they felt themselves being sucked into a vacuum. They all strained as they fought to free themselves from the shackles, but they were too powerful, too otherworldly to be withstood. Not even Pantheon could untie himself from its grasp.

Neon lost her balance on her roller-skates and fell onto her front as she was pulled to towards the rift.  
The rest of the defenders fell immediately afterwards. They were all violently dragged to the opening, banging heads and colliding with each other.  
Aatrox raised his humongous sword. 'I will severe your limbs!'

Reese stared, horror-struck as she saw Arslan, Bolin and Nadir about to die.

With some remarkably quick thinking, Ryze knew that they were all either going to get squashed or chopped in half. Summoning the most potent of his arcane power, Ryze placed both of his hands on the ground and channelled a giant portal to spawn around him, Pantheon, the Atlesian Soldiers and the Students. It was a last moment of effort to save everyone, but there wasn't enough time for it to finish transporting them. Ryze knew that they were dead.

Aatrox saw his hapless foes at his feet and the portal surrounding them. He was about to swing the sword down when _bang_. He felt something hit him on the back of the head and it caused him to flinch, delaying his strike by less than a quarter of a second.

The Darkin Blade rushed downwards and hit nothing but stone. He had been less than only a few milliseconds away from killing twenty six people.

He turned around to see a young girl dressed in red that had fired a bullet at him.

'Leave them alone!' Ruby Rose shouted. She flew at Aatrox with her Semblance recklessly and with a sudden loss of strategy. She neared his feet and swung her scythe in a circle to try and cut off his ankles. Crescent Rose only made its way through a snip of the skin, as though it had been nothing more than a mosquito bite.

She continued to circle around him at high speeds, swinging wherever she could find an opening. Each stab with the toe of her scythe left nothing more than a little prick of brief pain.

' _Grrr!_ ' Aatrox grunted. ' _I will slice you to death, little girl!_ ' he lifted the Darkin Blade and swung it around him. He may have been strong and able to brandish the Darkin with tremendous power, but his swings were singular and he could not keep up with her agility. Ruby was like an irritating bee buzzing around a person's head.

Reese saw Ruby giving it her best against Aatrox. She got off of her hoverboard and separated them into two twin pistols and fired them at Aatrox, but to no effect.  
He was getting irksome. ' _Argh! Stay STILL child!_ ' With a hefty roar, he anticipated Ruby's movements. Knowing that she went up his right side and across his head, he continued to wield the sword with his left hand whilst he freed his other hand and caught Ruby in its massive grasp.

'Gaah!' Ruby cried out. She only just managed to keep her hands on Crescent Rose as five extraordinarily big fingers clenched around her. Ruby wriggled in a frenzy, unable to free herself.

Aatrox brought Ruby up to his face and snarled. ' _You challenge a God killer?! With a gardening tool as well?! Hah! You make Rhaast and Myisha look like a monster!_ '

Opzin stood at the ready, knowing that he would have to jump into the action in any second.

'Who are you and what do you want?!' Ruby wailed.

' _Hahaha! I am Aatrox, and I shall not rest until everything is obliterated!_ '

'But why?! What do you get out of it?!' she said, repeated her question to Roman word for word.

' _You are trying to reason with me, girl! How amusing!_ ' Aatrox replied, tightening his grip on Ruby. ' _You are an unusual person, but I will savour killing you anyway!_ '

Aatrox raised his clenched fist into the air and then slammed it down with as much force as he could muster.  
He let go of Ruby and she felt the entire force of the ground after hurtling towards it. The impact heavily damaged her aura, and she ricocheted off the stone high enough for Aatrox to swing the Darkin Blade directly into her.

He could no longer stand around – for real this time: Ozpin flew to Ruby, leaving a blurry afterimage of himself, and used his cane to create a protective shield around himself and Ruby. It cushioned the blow, but they were still launched backwards, right into the stonework of the Beacon Tower. They fell and landed in a heap outside the front entrance of the main hall.

Reese remerged her guns back into a hoverboard and rode over to see if the two of them needed any help. 'Are you guys alright?' she asked.

'I'm okay.' said Ozpin. 'Are you okay Ruby?'

'A bit… headache-' Ruby mumbled. She had taken a hard hit for sure.

'Oh dear, please, take her somewhere away from her.' he said addressing Reese.

'Wait.' said Ruby. 'I can still… move.'

'You're injured Ruby, let me handle this.' Ozpin replied, who was all too aware of the World-Ender slowly walking towards them. 'Go!' he ordered.  
Reese rode away with Ruby in her arms.

Professor Ozpin and Aatrox stared at each other with mutual anger.

' _Ahaha! What are you going to do, old man!_ ' Aatrox taunted.

'A lot more than you might expect.' said Ozpin with a subliminal trace of ferocity in his voice.

' _Bring it on then!_ '

With inhuman speed, Ozpin danced around Aatrox, whacking him with his cane and the magic stored inside his body. Ruby had been fast, but Ozpin was unpredictable and Aatrox struggled to even see Ozpin, let alone hit him.

It seemed like Ozpin was the first person having any sort of effect against the World-Ender. He was even strong enough to meet with Aatrox's blade. But he could do nothing to put down Aatrox for good. His raw strength and power was unmatched. For twenty rounds they were toe-to-toe. Ozpin weaved in and out of Aatrox's line of sight, always avoiding the enormous sword. At the end of the skirmish, Ozpin slowed down and panted for air. He had not felt this exhausted since one of his many encounters with the Queen of evil: Salem.

His energy was nearly depleted and his aura became fragile. Every molecule of his body had been converted into the effort he had made to try and defeat Aatrox, but it had been wasted.

Aatrox could feel the nips in his body, but stood strong and well above Ozpin. He saw the debilitated man and raised his sword to deliver the killing blow.

* * *

The portal opened and everyone scattered. They all groaned and pulled themselves together and looked at their surroundings, wondering what had just happened.

'So, umm… can someone explain how we got away from that giant sword wielder?' Neptune asked, picking his weapon up off the floor.

A few people looked around, but ultimately fingers were pointed at Ryze. 'Yes, I whisked us all away before we were all killed.' he said. He was on his knees, feeling faint.

'How did you… do that?' Sun asked.

'Never mind how. We need to go back and kill that Darkin.' he said concernedly.

'Take us back then.' said Coco as though she were suggesting the obvious.

'Firstly, it took a lot of energy for me to warp us away from there. Making another portal right now would be an overload to my body and mind.'

'Maybe you shouldn't have taken us so far away then.' she remarked haughtily.

'Sass like that will only get you killed in a war, girl.' Ryze admonished. 'Secondly, I don't even know where we are. Do any of you?'

They were inside an industrial area with large shipping containers surrounding them, with a quayside overlooking the sea, on the outside.  
'We're by the docks in Vale.' said Blake, recognising it as the place where she had fought Roman and the White Fang with Sun.

'Who knows there way around Vale then, cause I don't.' said Nadir.

'Weiss, Yang, you two come and lead everyone back to Beacon.' said Blake. 'We know this area better than most people here. Everyone follow us!'  
The gang all went behind Blake, Weiss and Yang, with Team CFVY and JNPR bringing up the rear to keep everyone on the right track.

'Is it even a good idea going back to Beacon though?' an Atlesian Soldier piped up. 'We couldn't handle that thing as a group. We'd just be throwing ourselves back into danger.'

'It's our jobs to defend the Kingdoms.' said Yatsuhashi. 'We would be dishonouring ourselves and our people if we weren't giving it our very best.'  
There was a unanimous murmur of " _absolutelys"_ and " _that's rights_ " from them. Even Pantheon joined in on the patriotic attitude of this world that he was completely unfamiliar with.

The crew ran through the city. A lot of the buildings had been scathed and some had even suffered heavy damage. It was a dreadful sight to be witnessing and made you feel sick as you traversed through this almost apocalyptic setting. To Ryze this was nothing new, but to everyone else it was mind-blowing.

From the back, Team JNPR followed everyone else. Whilst it was perhaps odd to think that some of the people from other regions would get lost if they fell behind, it didn't matter to anyone who went in what order. Everyone was keeping up with Blake's reasonable jog, so there were no worries to be had yet.

Pyrrha ran almost with her head in the clouds. She thought back to how many blades she had seen above Penny. Her rationale suggested that it was nothing more than an illusion cooked up by stress: almost exactly like what Yang had possibly undergone. Yet the blades had seemed too real and lifelike. Pyrrha had been genuinely terrified at the sight of them.  
And once again, her mind rushed back to the Fall Maiden. She would not leave her mind alone and yet Pyrrha could not explain why she was so wound-up about it. Ozpin had hinted that her disappearance was an absolute disaster.  
If _she_ was going to become the next Fall Maiden, how much responsibility would be expected of her?

'Pyrrha?' said Jaune, who noticed her absentmindedness. 'Are you okay?'

They both slowed down. 'Huh? Oh, yes. I'm fine. Thank you, Jaune.' she said, forcing a smile.

Ren and Nora looked back to see their dallying teammates.

'You go on ahead.' said Pyrrha.

Jaune looked back to Ren and Nora, who both gave perplexed expressions. 'Pyrrha, what's wrong?'

'It's just this whole battle and my round with Penny.' she lied. I'm just a little bit tired.'

'Umm.' Jaune murmured.

'I'm not evading that titan back a Beacon, I just need to catch my breath, that's all.'

Jaune blinked, unsure of what to say.

'I'll join you back at Beacon shortly. I promise.'

There was nothing else that could be said. Jaune had been aware that Pyrrha had been a lot more on edge recently and also noticed how oblivious she had been to the Nevermores above the Amity Colosseum. But perhaps she would come back to the battle in a better state if he left her alone for a short while.

'Okay then. I understand.' said Jaune. 'If you're not feeling up to it though, please don't put yourself in that thing's range. We're all putting our lives on the line by going back to Beacon at the moment.'

'Of course.' said Pyrrha. She waved and let the rest of her team catch up with everyone else.

Physically, Pyrrha didn't feel too tired, but only mentally. It may have been cowardice, but she just considered it to be her getting into a better frame of mind. She continued walking towards Beacon, breathing heavily as she did, trying to drown out the adverse thoughts from her head.  
Something was amiss: more so than everything that was already apparent. She knew for sure that Grimm had been swarming Beacon and she also knew that the giant was something to be highly afraid of; there was something else though that nibbled Pyrrha's guts.  
Thankfully there weren't too many Grimm along her path. The teachers and Qrow had dealt with the infestation in the city, although it was still due many repairs.

Someone whispered out Pyrrha's name. 'Hey, Pyrrha!'

She turned to the direction the voice had come from. It was from an alleyway to her left. Immediately she was on her guard. A voice from an unsure location that is addressing you is almost never a good sign.

The voice called for Pyrrha again, this time a bit louder. It was rather high pitched and sounded somewhat familiar.

'Ruby?' said Pyrrha tentatively.

'Hi Pyrrha.' she replied, walking into view from an alleyway.

'What are you doing out here?'

'I've been killing as many Grimm as I can. What about you?'

'I was… helping in trying to take down a giant sword-wielder back at Beacon. It's so tough though that not even twenty Huntsmen and Huntresses can take it on.'

'So how did you end up over here then?'

'Umm…' said Pyrrha, unsure of how to explain who the blue mage was. 'It's a weird story that's probably best saved for another time. We're in the middle of a war right now.'

'So it would seem.' Ruby replied, with a lot of her whimsical dorkiness gone. 'Oh Pyrrha, would you help me with something'

'Sure? What do you need help with?'

'Follow me and I'll show you when we get there.' Without waiting for Pyrrha to say "yes", she jogged down the alleyway she had emerged from.

Pyrrha didn't know where Ruby had gone once she jumped out of the ship, but it didn't seem like the thing Ruby would do, to abandon her team just to go and fight Grimm on her own. It would have made much more sense for her to stay with her team.

She could barely see where they were going as Ruby guided her through different streets and alleyways. 'Do I need to be armed, or are we dealing with causalities?' Pyrrha asked, who was becoming progressively more concerned of Ruby's behaviour.

'Just wait until we get there.' Ruby replied. Her bubbly joy and heroic character were distinctly absent. She didn't feel like she was even talking to Ruby. It was the heat of battle, but Ruby still usually possessed high spirits and fervour in these kind of situations. Maybe this was one time too many.

Pyrrha wanted to say something, but thought that it would be best to wait until they reached whatever Ruby wanted help with. It would probably explain why she was behaving so coldly. With a sigh and a cup of hope, Pyrrha continued to blindly follow Ruby to her point of interest.

* * *

'Be on your guard!' said Ironwood as they approached Beacon. It was a pointless thing to say. Of course Qrow and the teachers knew something as fundamentally basic as this, but it didn't hurt to express through words that he cared for his colleagues.

As they entered the courtyard, they stared in utter shock at the sight of Aatrox. He was towering above Ozpin, who was barely standing on his cane, exhausted and on the brink of collapse. 'DIE!'

Qrow reacted instantly and flew over to where Ozpin was. He held out Harbinger in its sword form to block the Darkin Blade. But its overwhelming power broke right through Qrow's stance. If he had held his weapon as a scythe, it would have been snapped in half.  
Aatrox cut through the air and forced Qrow backwards with the force of ten charging Grimm Goliaths. He was sent flying into Ozpin and the two of them hurtled across the air into the stonework just above the doorway to the Beacon Tower where Ozpin and Ruby had just been knocked into themselves.

Goodwitch, Oobleck, Port and Ironwood ran forward but then stopped where they were in a panic as Aatrox turned to confront them. They had no way of combating this great colossus. It had torn through one of Ironwood's ships effortlessly. Even if he had his fully functioning armada in his control, it was unlikely that its firepower would be enough to do anything to this unkillable monster.

'Ozpin! Qrow!' Goodwitch yelled their names. They did not respond.

'I'll distract it!' said Ironwood. 'You three go and help Qrow and Oz!'

'Let me help you James!' Oobleck insisted. 'More than one hand is needed here!'

He nodded in moderate agreement. Ironwood shot a bullet at Aatrox's head and Oobleck fired his flamethrower at his torso. They ran towards his left whilst Goodwitch and Port sprinted around the right.

'Over here you abomination!' Ironwood said as loudly as he could.  
Aatrox turned around and this time made no hesitation. He charged forward and slashed his sword horizontally, leaving only a marginal amount of room for Ironwood to slide underneath him and recover to fire bullets at Aatrox's back.  
They did nothing…

And he did not react in time to avoid the Darkin blade being swung a full one hundred and eight degrees around as it slammed into Ironwood's cybernetic shoulder. He was launched out into the grassy outskirts of the Beacon land. As he slid across the grass, he felt something in his shoulder break.

Oobleck's flamethrower was having no effect either. He stood far too close to Aatrox and only just managed to move out of the way in time to dodge the giant sword. He had no choice but to go and help the General.

Goodwitch and Port ignored what was going on behind them as they reached Qrow and Ozpin. Both of them were on the floor in a lot of pain.

Qrow's wrists were broken. They had been bent backwards when he held his sword out in front of him to block Aatrox. Ozpin had hurt his back and was in the same state that Ruby had been in. He was barely conscious.

'Oh my goodness… No!' Goodwitch said as she saw them in a broken mess. She picked up Ozpin and carried him into the main hall as fast as she could. Port did the same with Qrow.

'No…' said Ozpin weakly, raising his hand up in objection. 'The tower… it cannot fall…'

Aatrox turned his attention to where Ozpin and Qrow had been. He just caught a glimpse of them been hurried into the building.  
This was the perfect opportunity for destruction, a brilliant target!  
He jumped up into the air and instantaneously grew much larger than he already was. He used his wings to hover and then went up to the Beacon Tower. ' _Cower mortals, as I break your worldly inventions!_ ' He swung his sword into the Tower, like an axe. The first two hits made no mark, but each consecutive hit afterwards did. The impact area began to crumble, getting larger with each hit and the building shook more and more from every bit of damage that was inflicted. It was like watching a crack in a dam get weaker and weaker.

There was nothing Ozpin, Goodwitch, Port or Qrow could do. They rushed back outside to avoid being buried under debris but could only watch as the entirety of the Beacon Tower fells backwards. It smashed through all the lower buildings behind it and broke into pieces as it hit the ground, sending another shockwave rushing through the land.

Goodwitch and Port looked up in unadulterated horror as they saw Aatrox, now larger and more terrifying than ever. ' _AHAHAHA!' FEAR ME MORTALS! I WILL BURY YOU IN_ _CARNAGE!'_

Oobleck watched as Aatrox chopped down the Beacon Tower. No words would come out of his mouth. He didn't know what to do. Ironwood was injured but his colleagues needed help. Yet what could he help with? It was unstoppable.

Port and Goodwitch rushed as they carried Qrow and Ozpin away, but there was nowhere to run. They could not move fast enough. Aatrox laughed. He descended and raised his sword, then slammed it into the ground. They jumped out of the way but lost their footing. Ozpin and Qrow fell to the floor. They couldn't move and there was no way that Goodwitch and Port could retrieve them _and_ create enough distance between them and Aatrox's sword.  
He raised it once again, ready to finally make a successful pair of kills. Goodwitch, Port and Oobleck covered their eyes…

Something fell out of the sky. It seemed like a shooting star by the way it rocketed towards the wreckage of Beacon academy.  
It hit the ground and dispersed in an explosion of golden light, enveloping over the school and making a splash towards Aatrox. It coated over him… and he froze. The sword was millimetres above Ozpin.

The light had been blinding. Goodwitch, Port and Oobleck opened their eyes after the initial intensity of it had subsided. The detritus of the school and Aatrox were completely golden. It was like they were galvanized in a shiny metal. Aatrox was nothing more than statue that could probably be sold on the black market for millions of Lien.

The teachers' hearts were racing faster than light itself, at more than two hundred beats per minutes. They had not seen where the comet of light had come from and how it seemed to have turned the splash radius around it golden to the point where Aatrox was now in stasis.  
If they could be sure of one thing though: it was that they were immensely grateful for a miraculous Deus ex machina like this one.

'Glynda, Peter, Qrow, Ozpin, are you all okay!?' Oobleck called out as he carried Ironwood over to them.

'Ozpin and Qrow are severely injured!' said Port. 'They're going to be on the long list of people who will need medical attention after this disaster is over.'

Goodwitch pulled Ozpin out from under the edge of the Darkin Blade. She sighed. 'You're going to be alright Professor Ozpin.' she said.

'I'm grateful…' he said, looking up at the paralysed Aatrox. 'For whatever it is that saved my life…'

Pyrrha heard Aatrox destroy the Beacon Tower. She also noticed the golden ball of light fall out of the sky. It made a ringing sound, like that of a pair of large cymbals crashing together as it hit the ground. 'Oh no…' she said out loud as she felt the ground tremble underneath her feet. She was relieved that Ryze had saved them from being crushed by Aatrox, but she also wondered that if he had teleported them to a location that was closer to the school, then they would have been able to prevent him from demolishing it. 'This is terrible…'

* * *

Ruby did not seem to be paying attention. She was so narrowly fixated on whatever it was she had in her mind.

She didn't want to sound imposing, but Pyrrha was now genuinely apprehensive about Ruby's behaviour. 'Can this thing wait, Ruby?' she asked concernedly.

'Just wait until we get there.' said Ruby demandingly.

They meandered through even more streets and pathways until they eventually stopped at the dead-end of an alleyway with large dumpsters on both sides. It was incredibly narrow and had no light, other than the glow of the moon.

Ruby was looking at the back wall. She did not move and said nothing either.

'Ruby, please, what are we going here?' Pyrrha asked. She was becoming increasingly suspicious.

She turned around and smiled faintly at Pyrrha. 'I was walking down here when fighting Grimm and saw something in a hole by the bottom of the wall over here.' she replied, pointing to that which could not be seen in the darkness.

Puzzled, Pyrrha did not move. Something was fishy… 'What do you think you saw?'

'I don't know exactly, but it caught my interest and I need someone else here to be with me in case I get ambushed. Can you have a look for me?'

Pyrrha Nikos had no clue what Ruby was doing, but she was almost certain that this was _not_ Ruby. She heard a shuffling sound on the roof above her. She pulled out her weapons. 'No.' she replied firmly.

Ruby pouted. 'That's not very nice…' she said emotionlessly.

And then she disappeared into thin air.

Pyrrha looked up in time to see Mercury Black. She raised her shield and attempted to redirect his weight into the wall on the right. She was partially successful but he quickly regained control and kicked off the wall and came at her again.

Unlike their sparring match before the tournament, they had been in a large space for a clean fight. Here, the area was narrow, unlit and dirty. He kicked with both of his boots, rapidly interchanging the area in which he struck. He was fast: much faster than he had been during the sparring match where he had been merely toying with her. Pyrrha was keeping up, blocking his attacks, but he was far too nimble for her to land a hit herself – plus, she was locked into the back of the alley. Mercury had control over the fight.

The smug grin on his face made Pyrrha's temper rise, and he was using that to his advantage. He eventually managed to kick Pyrrha in the face and she stumbled back. He then used his boots to quickly disarm her, but just like in her fight with Penny, she used her Semblance to retrieve them instantly and finally land a jab at Mercury's stomach. He fell back but used a kick-up to catch her off guard and fire a direct shot from his boot into her face.

She was briefly blinded and fell backwards. If Mercury had not taken just a second to look at her gloatingly, then she would have lost. But she capitalised on Mercury's arrogance and kicked him in the groin. He winced and edged backwards, clutching the area where it hurt most.  
Pyrrha then jumped up and grabbed onto the ledge of the building on her left where Mercury had dropped down from.

As she climbed onto the roof a chain wrapped around her ankle. She was being pulled away back to the ground, but used her Semblance to stop its tug. Turning around, she saw Emerald Sustrai wielding her kusarigama on the building on the other side. She also wore a smug, dirty look on her face that synthesised with Mercury's. Pyrrha pulled on the chain with her polarity and ripped it from Emerald's grasp and tossed it far away. There was no reason hide her Semblance anymore. This was not a competition with rules to abide by.

Emerald jumped to the rooftop Pyrrha was on and Mercury also got up from the alleyway below to join them.  
These two were formidable opponents, a lot more so than everyone Pyrrha had faced so far. She had been beaten all four members of Team CRDL by herself. On their own, Emerald and Mercury were manageable, but together they would be almost unstoppable. Pyrrha braced herself for a fight she was highly unlikely to win.

They both rushed her down, trying to disarm her by force and tackle her to the ground.  
Pyrrha blocked Mercury with her shield and parried Emerald's sickle with her xiphos. She was able to protect herself but could not sacrifice either side of defence to make an attack in retaliation lest she be hit.

The attrition endured for what felt like an eternity. Mercury constantly kicked her shield and would then kick lower, forcing her to crouch and this meant she was open to a strike from Emerald. She had to alternate between high and low with no room for any missteps. Pyrrha was worn-out. Everything before her eyes was becoming a haze of the dark night, silver and green. Emerald and Mercury had been inactive all day. They were full of energy and displayed not even the faintest signs of stopping their assault.  
She had used her Semblance so frequently that continuous usage had neutered its effectiveness. After ever push, they shoved back just as hard until eventually they broke through. In one last act of desperation, she jumped back to try and create distance between them and flee, but Emerald caught her ankle once again with her other chain. She fell over and dropped her spear and shield. Mercury went to pick them up and threw them out of sight.

Using her body weight, Emerald jumped off the building and pulled Pyrrha down with her. She landed on her front, prostrated. A headache circulated her head, crushing her very skull beneath the hammering pain.  
She attempted to stand up, but her head was immediately stomped down by Mercury.  
Pyrrha was no longer able to fight back. Her aura had shattered like broken glass. 'W-why are you doing this?' she rasped.  
They said nothing back.

Ten seconds later, they forced Pyrrha to her knees and each held one of her arms outstretched behind her, putting a foot onto her back so that she couldn't move.  
Cinder Fall strutted towards them. Pyrrha didn't recognise her, but didn't need to know who she was to deduce that she was not here to rescue her. Cinder carried herself with a sense of hubristic self-satisfaction. She was finding it difficult suppressing a cackle and her attire did not belie her malevolence.  
'It's such a shame that a star pupil's road to success was cut short.' she said gleefully.

Pyrrha stared at her with her eyes wide. 'What do you want with me?' she asked, hoping to actually get a response this time.

'You didn't kill Penny Polendina as you should have.' Pyrrha was sweating nervously. 'Whilst it ultimately doesn't matter, you, Pyrrha Nikos, are still a major obstacle in our mission. Your reputation matches your formidability, and for that reason, you are an ally of Ozpin and therefore must die.'

The seconds ticked as Cinder let Pyrrha comprehend what she had just told her. 'I-I don't understand. I have done nothing to you.'  
'It's nothing personal, but claiming your head and your life will bring me great benefits. I will rise higher in the ranks when everyone knows that I killed Pyrrha Nikos.'

Pyrrha tried to wrestle herself free, but Emerald and Mercury kept their grips firmly locked on her. She was petrified. Was this really it? Was this really her fate? She lurched, feeling unbelievably sick. This was not the way she envisioned her life to end. She had dreamed of spending the rest of her life with Nora, Ren and Jaune.

With _Jaune._  
She had never got to tell him how much he meant to her.

If only she had stayed with the group; and if only she had not fell for that illusion of Ruby!

Tears were trickling down her cheeks. She instinctively tried to wipe them away but of course her hands were wrenched immovably behind her.

With one final thought, Pyrrha asked Cinder: 'Do you believe in destiny?'

'…yes.' she said after one second.

A bow and arrow materialised from ashes in Cinder's hands.

She took a step back, drew the string, let go and fired the arrow at her throat.


	14. Standing United

**Chapter 14** – Standing United

Jaune strode across Vale with a stone in his throat. He knew that he was a Huntsman and that it was his job to protect the common folk (prioritising duty over family and friends), but he was biting his tongue more and more over the fact that he had left Pyrrha on her own, in a rundown city with Grimm running amuck. Pyrrha was capable of defending herself – this fact is not disputed, but Jaune knew her well enough to recognise that something was not right.

If anything bad happened to her, the blame lay on his shoulders.  
Jaune could not stand it any longer. 'Ren, Nora, go back to Beacon without me. I need to find Pyrrha!'

They turned around to look at him concernedly.

'I think we should let her come back of her own accord.' said Ren as empathetically as possible. 'She's probably fatigued and needs a little bit of time away from combat.'

'But Ren, I _know_ that she's not okay! Her behaviour is so unlike her! I could hear it in her voice, i-it's all so worrying!'

Ren and Nora said nothing. They showed without words that they understood how he felt but also believed that he himself was not thinking clearly.

'Please guys, my gut is telling me that I've abandoned her and so many crazy things have happened tonight, that she's in danger! There's no telling what might grab a hold of her when she has her back turned!'

'Usually it's me who does the overthinking.' said Nora.

'It's fine Jaune I understand.' said Ren. 'As leader, it is your duty to make sure that all of us are safe. Waste no more time and go and find her.'

Jaune gave a weak smile but a determined nod and ran in the opposite direction, back towards the docks where they had come from.

He picked up the pace and shouted out Pyrrha's name. 'Pyrrha! Pyrrha, where are you?!'  
The streets all looked the same in the dark, and even more so now that the once recognisable buildings were broken. Jaune's heart was in a frenzy. He paid no attention to actually where he was going. All that mattered was hearing Pyrrha's voice.

She had just said that she wanted to catch her breath, implying that she would probably _walk_ back to Beacon instead of run. If this was the case, then why would she had gone off the beaten path?  
Jaune's head was swimming in despair. If he couldn't find her in the city, then where could she be? If the answer was in the hands of the enemies, then it was too late for Jaune to do anything.

As he slowed down, running out of stamina, Jaune pricked up his ears to hear the sound of metal against metal and multiple people grunting: it was a fight. In an instant he ignored all pain in his lungs and ran towards the source of the noise at full speed.

It sounded like it was coming from a rooftop. He looked up but failed to see a solid metal object rushing towards him. It hit him directly on his forehead and he staggered backwards, dizzy from the lack of oxygen and the collision of metal against his skull.  
After he regained his vision, he looked down to inspect the object.  
It was Akoúo̱: Pyrrha's shield!  
Moments later, another object came flying towards him. This time Jaune saw it coming and dived out of the way. Miló landed, digging itself into the ground like a Javelin.

Jaune was petrified. It wasn't uncommon for Pyrrha to use her weapons as projectiles with her Semblance, but these looked like they had just been tossed away like they were bags of trash. This could not be good!

The weapons had come from above. With panic in his feet, Jaune rushed into the nearby alleyway, hoping to find a set of steps he could use to climb up.  
There were none. He clutched his head in agitation, unsure of what to do. Suddenly there was the sound of something falling off the roof coming from the other side. He staggered out of the alleyway, ran past a few buildings and poked his head around the corner to see Pyrrha and her arms being held out by Emerald and Mercury. A lady that Jaune did not know was swaggering towards them. Jaune choked on his own sickness. He wanted to do something, but every muscle in his body had tensed to the point where he could not move, and his throat had tightened so much that he could not even scream to catch their attention.

'It's such a shame that a star pupil's road to success was cut short.' Cinder said gleefully.  
'What do you want with me?' Pyrrha asked.  
'You didn't kill Penny Polendina as you should have. Whilst it ultimately doesn't matter, you, Pyrrha Nikos, are still a major obstacle in our mission. Your reputation matches your formidability, and for that reason, you are an ally of Ozpin and therefore must die.'

Jaune's legs turned to lead. He fell over backwards, out of their line of sight.  
'It's nothing personal, but claiming your head and your life will bring me great benefits. I will rise higher in the ranks when everyone knows that I killed Pyrrha Nikos.' Cinder finished.  
'Do you believe in destiny?' Pyrrha asked, almost seemingly randomly.

'…yes.' Cinder replied after one second.

Jaune used all of his remaining strength to crawl on his front and see what happened next. He stared with petrified eyes as a bow and arrow materialised from ashes in Cinder's hands.  
She took a step back, drew the string, let go and fired the arrow at her throat.

As her fingers withdrew, Jaune threw up as he screamed Pyrrha's name.

* * *

Adam took the deepest of breaths that he could. He had never felt this pitiful and sorry for himself in his entire life. For years he had been spiteful, but had still been in control and had a will to live: fighting for a cause he believed so vehemently in that his very soul had merged with it. Every step of the way since he was a child he battled for the amelioration of the Faunus: to bring justice upon the human race; to give his kin the rights that they had been deprived of for so long.

Humans acted like they were the masters of Faunus: as though they were merely second-class citizens at best, and disgruntled slaves at worst. Humans claimed to have "ownership" over Faunus' entitlements, as though they were property in the same way they could own a horse or a table. _'But I know better!'_ Adam told himself throughout his life.

The Faunus were better than humans. They had everything that humans had but more. Faunus were intelligent, rational beings with the ability to read, go to school, get a job, live a happy life and pay taxes and bills just like humans. They were nearly identical in appearance too, with the only difference being each Faunus' own animalistic body parts.

What reason was that to push the Faunus under the rug? Faunus often have a distinct advantage with their unique anatomy. The third year during the Faunus War saw the Battle of Fort Castle. General Lagune was the military leader of the Human forces and mistakenly tried to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. But Faunus often have ears with highly acute hearing or have night vision. His army was utterly defeated and Lagune went down in Remnant's history as a failure for humanity and has never been vindicated.  
Some Faunus can fly if they are given wings. Others have tails that can prove to be handy and versatile. In many ways, being a Faunus was a blessing in disguise. If only the humans didn't hold such unreasoned prejudice out of ignorance against them.

Adam thought back to how much of an effort he had made for the White Fang and how much weight he had pulled, but so little difference had been made. Up until six years ago, the White Fang had been a pacifist organisation, led under Ghira Belladonna: his beloved's father. He had advocated non-violent protests.  
 _'Such weakness!'_ Adam believed. The humans wouldn't listen unless a stone was cast; until their own interests were threatened. With a new leader, who knew that violence was justified where it was progressive, change was seen. A dawn of the Faunus finally rising from the stinging ashes was upon then, and Adam had relished in every moment of humans feeling his wrath. He knew that you don't get to the top without stepping on a few heads, and even more humans had to be crushed under his feet for his dream to become a true reality.

But recent months had not been so kind. He was coerced into working with a perfidious woman and her clients. Whilst they had suggested working towards the destruction of a human dominated society by knocking down the three key pillars: government, military and schools, she had asked for Adam and his kin to work – and potentially die – for a human cause. She had offered the rewards of Dust and Lien, but Adam was not driven by materialism.  
In the end though, he gave in to the woman's very pragmatic offer, hoping that it would be worth his time.

And look where it got him. The White Fang members in Vale were beaten by the Huntsmen and Huntresses. The Grimm were not having the impact on Beacon that had been hoping for. This chance had been the basket that Adam had put all of his apples into. He wanted to show Sienna Khan that strength and fear of the Faunus was the way forward. The mysterious woman and her associate that he hadn't met for himself had given Adam that opportunity. He was already hesitant that he and his men were aiding a group of humans, but the pay would likely have been worth the price ultimately.

Now he would be the laughing stock of the White Fang: an unfit leader with poor judgement. Adam would surely be banished from the organisation for his incompetence.

Adam himself had been bested by a man who had no right to say what he should and should not do. He had called Adam a coward. He had said that Adam's blade was "stained with evil".

But this all didn't matter for now. Adam was severely injured. His aura had been shattered and was almost depleted. Both of his arms had holes in them and broken bones. He could not put any pressure on his left leg and he was struggling to breathe through his broken nose and bruised throat. And the rotten cherry on top of the mouldy cake was that he had no weapon to defend himself with. Adam had to find a way to get back to the camp.

He had arrived at Beacon via a Bullhead, but there was no way he would find a working one just lying about in a convenient location. He had no idea where his men had gone for that matter. Surely they must have fled to somewhere nearby, for there was no possibility of them making it out of the city on foot.  
Adam hoped that those who had survived would forgive him. They had already known how reluctant he was to team up with the humans, so maybe they would be empathetic of how he had been pressurised into making that dreadful decision. He had learned his lesson to _never_ work with humans again.  
 _'Reconciliation can come later.'_ Adam thought to himself. He had to reunite with his kin. He knew that he would earn back his respectability in due course, but also understood that it would be much harder than it already was to earn the respect of the high leader: Sienna Khan.

* * *

Pyrrha closed her eyes. It was over…

But the arrow never found its target.

Pyrrha began to glow as a purple coloured aura consumed her. The arrow was deflected right off the shield and hit Cinder in the left shoulder. She dropped the bow and stumbled back. Pyrrha's energy was replenished almost instantly and she shook Emerald and Mercury off of her. She stood but jumped backwards as she saw a rather tall man dressed like a ninja standing right beside her. His attire was mostly dark blue and purple, with large pauldrons and armguards, a ninja mask covering his face, purple trousers, brown boots and a two short swords on his back.  
Something that Pyrrha noticed was how ethereal he was. His extremely large muscles, biceps and elbows were the only part of his body that was exposed, but they kept disappearing and reappearing. What was the most mysterious part of him though was a giant blue sword, which seemed very otherworldly and spiritual in matter, floating next to him, with a tether of blue light connecting them.

The ninja stood with his right hand on the handle of the sword on the right side of his back. He quickly examined the situation, looking at Emerald and Mercury, who backed away with nervous glances at each other. He then looked at Cinder. She pulled the arrow out of her shoulder and glared at him. The ninja then looked at Pyrrha who was also reversing away from him.  
'Stay next to the sword.' he said firmly, pointing towards the spiritual sword. It began to emit mildly bright light and created a blue ring around him and Pyrrha.

Pyrrha nodded. She felt pleasantly warm next to the sword as it vanquished all the coldness in her body.

The ninja then blinked towards Cinder. His body became distorted and he seemed to dash right through her. She pulled out one of her glass blades and began to attack the Ninja as he appeared behind her, but she seemed to be flailing her arms mindlessly. The ninja used his armguards to block her attacks before pulling out his right blade and precisely cutting into her left shoulder – above where the arrow had fit her – chipping away parts of her bones He then kicked her in both of her knees before she fell to her hands and feet.

The ninja grabbed her right arm and cut the sleeve off. The golden creature inside jumped away and scampered off into the distance. A deep gash had been made on her shoulder and her right arm. But the Ninja wasn't done yet. He took his left sword from his back and slammed it through her left calf. She cried out in pain as the tip of the blade broke its way through her leg and punctured the skin on the other side. He then finally used the hilt of his right sword to bludgeon her head and knock her out cold.

Pyrrha watched in awe. It had all happened so fast that she could not comprehend and replay everything that had just occurred.  
She turned around and noticed that Cinder and Mercury were firing at her. Each bullet from Emerald's gun and Mercury's boots were hitting her, but she felt literally nothing. They were not hurting her in the slightest.

The ninja turned around after he had finished with Cinder. Emerald and Mercury didn't even get a quarter of a second to react as once again he became a blur of light as he dashed to them. Emerald was disarmed instantly and on the floor with one brutal punch to the nose.  
He then used Emerald's chain to grab hold of Mercury's right boot. He hopped awkwardly on his left leg, trying not to fall over. The ninja grabbed his right sword and thrust it downwards to Mercury's boot, but it did no damage to him.  
Sighing, the Ninja summoned his spirit blade. It empowered his earthly sword, making it glow just like the spiritual blade. With magic now behind the metal, the Ninja tried again. This time the sword pierced his leg, and the Ninja twisted the blade to do as much interior damage as possible.

Whilst Mercury did not feel much pain since his legs were mechanical and not flesh, he still yelled in anger. His boots were very expensive and one-of-a-kind.  
The ninja then finished his display of skill by pulling Mercury right next to him with Emerald's kusarigama so that he could grab his thigh and punch him directly in the nose with even more force than he exerted with Emerald.

All three of Pyrrha's assailants were on the ground – all three of them completely unconscious – in less than ten seconds. If only Amber had been this swift when she had been attacked by them.

Jaune had watched from afar with his mouth wide open. He threw up again but paid no attention to it as he got up off the floor and ran to his partner. 'Pyrrha!'  
She turned around to see Jaune with tears in his eyes. Pyrrha also cried as they embraced.

'Are you okay?' Jaune asked.

'I'm… alright.' She whispered.

It happened all of a sudden. Without any real thought, their lips met. It was for a fleeting moment, but during it, time seemed to slow down to a crawl. It was a warm sensation that coated their souls in passion.

They opened their weeping eyes and noticed that the Ninja was still there. He wasn't watching but clearly knew that Jaune and Pyrrha were kissing. They broke away from each other and looked at him, embarrassed.

'I-I'm very… grateful Sir.' Pyrrha said.

'No need to thank me.' said the Ninja emotionlessly.

'W-who are you and where did you come from?' Jaune asked.

The ninja pulled out his left sword from Cinder's leg and wiped the blood off before returning it to its sheath on his back.  
'I consider myself to be a mediator between the physical and spiritual world.' he said. 'Recently there has been a loss of equilibrium between the two and my job of arbitrating both has been very hard. So I came to this world, which has merged with my own, to see if I could find any clues as to how balance may possibly be restored.'

Pyrrha and Jaune had no idea what the Ninja was going on about, aside from the idea of a different world entirely. His talk of metaphysics did not make any sense to them. The ninja read their expressions and understood that they didn't care about this information. 'But I digress.' he said. 'My name is Shen.'

'Thank you, Shen.' said Pyrrha with a smile. 'I'm Pyrrha and this is Jaune.'

'I don't seek praise, but it still brings me happiness to know that I have made someone happy myself.'

'So, h-how did you do all that?' Jaune asked. 'You just beat these guys before they could see it coming.'

'It's a story worth saving for another time to be told in detail,' said Shen. 'but the short version is that I grew up in an order of ninjas who were unrestrained from emotions and skilled in the way of the blade. By using both the physical and spiritual realm as our weapons and battlefield to fight on, those who are adept in only the material world do not stand a chance against me.'

Pyrrha and Jaune took in all this information. It was so unreal, yet it was. They had seen it with their own eyes.

'I saw you from a distance.' Shen continued. 'You were just about to be killed, so I granted you a shield of spiritual energy and teleported to your location.'

'And what about that floating sword?' said Jaune.

'I promise you that the sword you see floating beside me has layers of science and spiritualism behind it that explain how it works, which you won't care to hear about right now. I can see that you are currently in the middle of a warzone, so it is best that we stay on the defensive.'

'Will you help us in that case?' Jaune asked.

'Will I help you fight the battle?'

Pyrrha and Jaune nodded.

'Normally I do not pick sides. It's also not really my business as to what happens in this world.' They looked disappointed. 'But it is also obvious who are the antagonists of destruction and who are defenders of peace.' he went on. 'So I shall fight alongside you.' Their despondency was washed away in an instant.

'Thank you!' said Pyrrha. 'Right now we need all the help we can get!'

'Don't mention it.' said Shen.

Emerald and Mercury were murmuring on the floor like babies, unaware of what had happened. 'What do we do with them?' Jaune asked.

'Leave them.' Shen ordered. 'Do not be swayed by vengeance for what they did to you.'

'But surely we can't just leave them here to wake up and escape.'

'Where is your sanctuary?' Shen asked.

'What do you mean?' said Pyrrha.

'It is far away, therefore it is not worth carrying them all the way there. Especially not when it is under attack from a Darkin.'

'Do you know what that giant thing is?!' Jaune questioned.

Shen nodded. 'It is part of a race of beings, known in the common tongue as "Darkin". The one by your base is probably one of the most ferocious of its kind.'

For the umpteenth time that night, the ground shook violently. This time it was followed by the sound of a building falling over in the distance. ' _DESTROY!' EVERYTHING AWAITS DESTRUCTION!_ ' Aatrox roared.

'No… you don't think...' Pyrrha began.

'Nothing will stand in the Darkin's way.' said Shen. 'But if you want to have any chance of stopping it, lead me back to your base and I will help you fight it.'

'Our gang must be back there by now.' Jaune pointed out. 'With you on our side, we might stand a chance.'

'First of all, I need to get my weapons back.' said Pyrrha.

'I know where they are.' said Jaune. 'When I came running to find you, they were just thrown at me. I'm guessing it wasn't you though.'

'Emerald knocked me over and I think Mercury must have tossed both of them away. Perhaps you just so happened to run along their flight path.'

'Yeah, I guess.'

Jaune directed them to where Miló and Akoúo̱ had landed. The spear was still in the ground like a Javelin. Pyrrha pulled it out and reequipped herself with both weapon and shield in hand.

'Alright then, let's go and kick some Darkin butt!' said Jaune determinedly.

The three of them entered a jog. As they went back to Beacon, Pyrrha and Jaune agreed through nodding not to talk about their kiss until much later.

* * *

Roman Torchwick climbed down the building he had landed on after he had jumped off Blue Two. He wiped the dust off his clothes, but he was hissing at the mouth. His gloves, suit and even trousers had holes in them as he had scrapped against the stone rooftop. His outfit was far from cheap, so he would need to find another very talented tailor who could provide him with the suit to replace his now ruined one.

He was beginning to wonder if it had been worth the effort working with Cinder and her mysterious boss. Everything had been fine up until she had suggested that they work with the White Fang. Roman knew that working with a volatile bunch of Faunus from one of the most infamous organisations in Remnant was a risky deal to bargain on. This was when their unpredictable behaviour and loyalty started to become an issue with getting things done. They didn't do great job at stopping Ruby Rose, her teammates, their professor and dog from impeding their plans to release Grimm into Central Vale and Beacon. They also had not been able to fight to the Faunus girl, boy and blade wielding girl at the docks when they attempted to steal the Dust containers.

If heists and plans were failing because of their lack of prowess and competence, it would become far less likely for them to remain cooperative if it seemed like results weren't being achieved.  
Even though it seemed like tonight's events were causing destruction and mayhem, they were suffering more casualties than expected and the Huntsmen and Huntresses were putting up a remarkably persistent fight. They also had help from warriors of another world, albeit Roman did not know this yet.  
Ruby had even meddled with his plans for the _fourth_ time, and had sent Neo off of the ship and Roman had no idea where she was.

He bent his cane in anger. If he ever came across Little Red Riding Hood again, he would make _sure_ that she suffered tremendous amounts of pain. It was only fair considering how much of an inconvenience she had been to him. He would not just taunt her with words like he had done in the tunnels. It would be pure physical torture and he did not care if blood got on his suit, even if it was a new one.

' _Okay, calm down Roman.'_ he said to himself. Ruby was not important right now. He was hopeful that the thing that had destroyed the ship would do some lasting damage to Beacon as well. Despite not being able to see it, he had heard its voice from far away and just simply knew that it was not to be taken lightly.  
But as long as he did not lose and ultimately got some decent Lien, the mishaps were not detrimental. As far as he was concerned, if tonight was an overall success, the White Fang could kiss his arse goodbye. The world would be in shock after Beacon fell and fear would naturally rise in the population. This would bring more Grimm to the Kingdoms and leave them vulnerable to more strikes from him and his associates. He had enough contacts to get the job done without relying on the White Fang.

No rendezvous had been established unfortunately, so there was no way of knowing where Cinder and her two punks were, nor could he find Neo without actually seeing her, because heaven forbid that she could contact him via a scroll and speak with her own voice.

Roman was in a mess for sure, but there was positives to come out of this evening: things were not unsalvageable.  
For now, Roman just needed five things to make him feel better:

His accomplices, cash, a smoke, a change of clothes and a shower.

* * *

Jaune, Pyrrha and Shen arrived back at Beacon. Everyone else had already made it and it seemed that the fight had come to an end. Jaune and Pyrrha stared agape at the sight of the wreckage of Beacon Academy and Aatrox in a golden stasis.

Nora and Ren noticed that their teammates had returned and the four of them went over to each other, together again.

'Who's that guy?' said Nora, pointing at Shen who kept his distance.

'He saved me.' said Pyrrha. 'Come over here.'

Shen walked over to them.

'Ren, Nora, this is Shen. He saved me. Shen, this is Ren and Nora: they're my teammates.'

'It's nice to meet you.' Shen said plainly.

'You too.' said Ren.

'If you saved our dear old Pyrrha, then you must be a good guy!' said Nora.

'I wouldn't say that I'm either good or bad, but if you want to put it in those terms, then I could be considered a protector of sorts: a warden perhaps.'

'Shen, I can't say thank you enough times.' said Pyrrha.

'Once again, you are welcome Pyrrha, but do not show too much gratitude to one person, lest you forget where your duty lies.'

No one on Team JNPR was really philosophical, other than Ren, so these words did not resonate with them.

'I… get what you mean, but healthy amounts of thankfulness aren't bad.'

'I agree entirely.' said Shen solemnly.

They all shrugged and joined everyone else as they gathered around the frozen Aatrox. Goodwitch, Port and Oobleck were just at the side, attending to Qrow, Ozpin and Ironwood.

'Are they going to be okay?' Weiss asked.

'They'll be fine.' Goodwitch replied. 'They've just suffered some rather nasty injuries and will be out of commission for a while.

Ruby and Reese arrived at the scene after Ozpin had instructed them to leave the courtyard. Ruby saw her Uncle lying on the floor and ran over to see him. 'Uncle Qrow!'

He looked up and smiled weakly. 'Hey there kiddo.' he said. Yang came to see them too.

'Where have you been Ruby!?' Yang asked worriedly. 'I haven't seen you all evening!'

'Don't worry Sis, I'm fine. I'm fine. I just had a bit of a run-in with Torchwick again.'

'He's here?!' Blake interrupted, moving closer to them.

'Umm, yeah. He took control of one of General Ironwood's ships. We got into a bit of a tussle on-board it until that _thing,'_ she pointed at Aatrox. 'tore its way through the ship and sent it to the ground. We got separated during the crash.'

'So nobody knows where he's gone?' Blake pestered. 'Where exactly did it crash and how long ago was this?'

'Kids, please…' said Qrow. 'Too much has happened tonight. The Grimm and the White Fang have invaded Vale, and so has this goliath, but they've run away and now this thing is frozen. Right about now it's time we all rest and discuss what happens from here _afterwards_.'

Everyone engaged in conversation about what they thought was going to happen next. The battle was far from over, but it seemed that right now things were at a ceasefire.  
And even though not everyone knew each individual person very well, there was safety in numbers and so far everyone had worked together regardless of who they were and where they had come from.

It was an unlikely composition of teams, but every single person had something to offer. Even Ryze felt a sense of comfort and allegiance that he had not experienced in an extremely long time.

It was almost as though the horrors of tonight had never happened, that the Beacon Tower was still standing and a bloodthirsty monster was not standing right next to them, for friendships were being made as they all stood united.


	15. Daring to Cross the Land Bridge

**Chapter 15** – Daring to Cross the Land Bridge

Climate is a fascinating part of the world. Whether you like natural geography as an academic subject or not, everyone should know the basics of weather and climate change, for all are affected by it in some way, shape or form, depending on where you live.

In Runeterra, if you go south, you are in the scorching sands of Shurima. In the midlands, from Demacia to Noxus to Piltover and Zaun, you get a mild, comfortable atmosphere that is ideal for humans. It is neither too hot nor too cold and agriculture can prosper. Go to the north and northwest however and you arrive in the glacial land of the Freljord. The cold is unforgiving and is politically divided into three matriarchal tribes with no central government.

But even if you do pass Freljord's ruthless trial of acceptance, you are never truly safe and complacency will certify your demise inevitably.  
The Freljord has not seen peace for centuries, as the ongoing civil war between the three factions keeps everyone at arms. Only those destined to be warriors will survive the harsh environments and lifestyles and make it to adulthood, where one must stay continuously diligent and wary of what you cannot trust.

It is very strange therefore that a mere child of the nomadic Notai tribe has explored more of the Freljord and withstood its hardships greater than anyone else:  
The boy who went by the name "Nunu", spent his first five years of life with his mother Layka in the tribe, being told stories, songs and poems that stirred his imagination. On his fifth nameday, Layka gave Nunu a flute so that he could learn the songs himself.

The boy and his mother were separated for life though when the Notai's caravan was attacked by thieves. Nunu was separated from his mother and rescued, along with the surviving Notai children by a band of people from the Frostguard: one of the three primary factions of the Freljord, led by the twofaced Ice Witch: Lissandra.  
Nunu was taken to the Frostguard Citadel and raised by the mighty people who served Lissandra, mistakenly believing that she was a valiant leader that would bring them to eventual peace and viewed her as a saint.

Despite now being an orphan, Nunu believed that his mother was still alive and out there. The Frostguard were obstinate though that no child could search for her without putting their life at risk. Therefore he spent more time escaping into the songs that his mother taught with his flute and even met Lissandra herself, who was seemingly intrigued about Nunu and the stories and songs he divulged. Nunu was with his childhood companions, but he was eventually ostracised for his belief in himself of possibly being a hero and the fact that he still played with his flute when they were learning the way of the blade.

The boy was adamant though and devised a plan to earn the respect of the Frostguard so that they may help him find his mother. He would go and slay a yeti with his flute… Nunu's imagination led him to believe that his flute was a sword, which he called " _Svellsongur_ ".

Nunu found the last remaining yeti of its kind in a ruin, protecting a gem that could turn the wielder's mind into reality, waiting for someone who was worthy to take it. He realised upon discovering the four armed yeti that it was lonely from losing its brethren and was in need of a friend.

To the bewilderment of all who hear the story, Nunu tamed the yeti by… starting a snowball fight with it. The guardian sensed in the boy something that he had never experienced before with other humans that had raided his home with malice: love. It knew that Nunu was the right person to wield the gem that it protected. This unlikely duo almost immediately became the best of friends and Nunu named his yeti "Willump".  
The two then set off on what neither of them could have done on their own: a grand, magical adventure.

Ever since Nunu and Willump united, the young Notai only returned to the Frostguard Citadel once. The elders were indeed awestruck by his precocious feat, but were still precautious of Willump as a fearsome animal. He was not allowed to be kept as a companion or as a "pet", so Nunu officially left the Frostguard for good.  
As Nunu rode atop Willump's back, holding onto the antlers on his head, he thought back to the last person he talked to at the Citadel before leaving.

* * *

Sigvar Half-Quiver, like Lissandra, was an Iceborn. He had earned the nickname after he was struck by a shower of more than twelve arrows against a raid from the Tusk-Crow tribe. Four had hit his shield; two found their way into his legs; one went clean through his forearm; two in his chest, one in his shoulder and even more in his back. Despite this though, Sigvar persisted, killing three raiders and even using one of the arrows as a weapon after he dropped his sword when he was struck by one in the wrist.

Sigvar was then granted the honourable yet perilous task of descending into the Howling Abyss – an _extremely_ deep trench built by the legendary demigod blacksmith, known as Ornn, along with one large central bridge across the top and multiple little ones beneath – along with two other Iceborn – Olar Stonefist and Halla Ice-in-her-Soul – to see if the True Ice at the bottom was holding in the creatures of the Void – an indescribable place on nonexistence where eldritch abominations and unspeakable horrors are born. The Void is nowhere in particular, but openings to it were most prominently found in Shurima and the now derelict city of Icathia. Sigvar found that one of the nine pillars, which served as locks, was melting and it let loose an indescribable monster. Olar sacrificed himself to keep the creature from escaping to the surface and Halla and Sigvar managed to escape with their lives, but not before Sigvar was forced to knock Halla's arm with her pickaxe as the creature infested it.

The monster was subdued, but word had gotten out that the frozen tomb was not entirely secure, so the Frostguard Citadel have since been prepared for the Void and its outbreak, but that day was yet to come at full force.

"You must be careful, young Nunu." said Sigvar as they stood outside the Citadel.

"It's okay Sigvar," said Nunu, who was eyeing the large hammer on his back. It was called " _Thunderchild_ " and had belonged to Olar. "Willump and I will look out for each other."

"You should know as well as I do that the Freljord does not take kindly to spirit and plucky determination. If you stay here at Frostguard, you will be guaranteed food, warmth, shelter and safety. Are you sure that you want to go out there and potentially never find your mother?"

"I know she's out there!" replied Nunu who was sick of being told that there was not a chance that he would find her. "I would rather die whilst at least attempting to find her than stay here and not search at all!"

Willump grunted and nodded in agreement.

Sigvar sighed. He admired Nunu's pertinacity, but wasn't sure if he condoned his reckless approach to the matter at hand. An Iceborn like himself would have been hesitant to travel across the Freljord without a group. To think that a child would be this daring. But then again, Nunu was driven by emotions and his love for his long-lost mother. Who was Sigvar to say that the boy did not have the right to reunite with his true family? "Look, Nunu, I'm not trying to dissuade you from going… I just… want you to be sure that this is what you want to do."

"I'm sure! Surer than I've ever been in my life! Don't you feel the same way Willump?"

" _Grunts"  
_

"I understand. But before you go, I'd like to give you a few things."

"Hmm? What kind of things?" said Nunu, interested.

The Iceborn reached into his pocket and pulled out a sachet, tied at the top with string. "It's not much, but there are five hardboiled eggs in there and two pieces of already cooked meat. Make it last before you run out and need to find more."  
Sigvar handed it over to Nunu and he put it in his backpack.

"Thank you Sigvar!" said Nunu gratefully.

"And wait, that's not all." Sigvar added. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out two objects, which were attached by a little chain. "It's a fire starter." he explained as he saw the confused expression on Nunu's face. "You use the blade and strike it against the little stick downwards. It'll create some sparks and can easily set anything flammable on fire. Use it when you need some warmth or something to cook."

Nunu's perplexity was replaced with joy as Sigvar finished explaining what the fire starter was and as he gave it to him. "You're the best, Sigvar!" said Nunu euphorically.

" _Grunt, Grunt…_ "

"Uhh, don't worry Willump, I just meant that Sigvar is a great guy for giving us these things.' Nunu laughed nervously.

" _Rrr_ " Willump nodded to show that he understood.

"I got it from Delverhold. A bunch of warmongers just happened to drop it when I was sent on a mission there."

"That's cool!" said Nunu.

"I've still got more stuff." said Sigvar, who was now smiling as he saw how happy he had made the boy. He gave Nunu some cotton wool and a knife. "Cotton is flammable." he said. "If you and your yeti can kill a sheep, then cut off its wool and use it as the base for a campfire."

"You're so nice, Sigvar!"

"And lastly, I've noticed that you love stories, songs and poetry, so I've decided to give you my prized possession from my childhood." He gave Nunu a leather book. "I, like you, love the world that does not really exist. Stories, ballads and melodies were what put me to sleep at night and I bet you'll get as much pleasure out of this book as I did."

Nunu felt a tear escape his left eye. Sigvar's generosity was warming his heart. "Thank you, but… don't you want it still?"

"Eh, I guess you could say I've 'grown out of it', so to speak."

"No one's too old to have a bedtime story or song."

"Maybe, but you will probably get more out of it than I will at this point. Here, let me show you some of my favourites."

Sigvar took the book and flicked through the pages. Nunu spotted the title at top of the left page: ' _The Lost Tales of Ornn_ '.

"You've heard of Ornn, right?' Sigvar asked.

"Of course I have! The grumpy yet awesome forger of all things, and his big bad brother Volibear! My mom used to sing a poem about him to me."

"There are five tales in this collection. Some parts of it are undoubtedly myth, but other parts are very much true."

"Really?! That's amazing!"

"Yeah, it is. Let me show you something else."

Sigvar turned the pages back until they reached a poem. ' _The Path to Hearth-Home'_

 _"_ Oh, that's the poem my mom sang me!' Nunu said.

"The original piece has been translated from Ancient Freljordian into our contemporary vernacular."

'Contemporary vernacular?' repeated Nunu, unsure of what that meant.

"Oh right… sorry. It means our own modern language."

"Oh, I see. Thanks for clearing that up! I can't thank you enough Sigvar!" said Nunu.

"You can thank me by promising that you will be careful out there and that you take good care of the book." He handed it back to Nunu. "The original writings do exist outside of that thing, but I don't have another copy and I highly doubt that you'll be able to get your hands on a new edition of something so old."

"I promise that I will take good of it!'

"And yourself?"

"And myself! Hehe…"

Sigvar smiled. "Well I don't have anything else to say… so I guess this is farewell…"

"Goodbye Sigvar! Thanks for everything! Let's go Willump!"  
Willump made a noise that only Nunu could decipher as: " _I'm ready to go!_ " He turned around and jogged at a moderate pace.

"Wait!" Sigvar called out. "Do you have any idea if you'll ever come back here?"

Nunu thought about the question. "I don't know." he replied truthfully. "But I wouldn't put your hopes up that we'll return."

"Okay." said Sigvar. "Goodbye Nunu."

"Bye!"  
Willump grunted with impatience.

"Okay Willump, let's go, for real this time!"

Not a second had passed after Nunu had finished speaking before the yeti went on all sixes and scampered away, this time very fast.  
"Woah! Don't go too fast, Willump!"

Sigvar watched until the boy and his yeti had climbed the nearest hill and disappeared behind it from view.

* * *

Almost a week later, Nunu and Willump had reached the westernmost side of the Freljord. They had stopped by the harbour settlement of Glacerport to get some more food but quickly continued their journey as soon as they acquired everything they needed, because people probably wouldn't take nicely to the presence of a Yeti. Finally they had made it to the peninsula of Lokfar, although without a proper map of any sorts in their possession, Nunu and Willump did not know this. To their slight disappointment, their peregrination had been rather desolate, with very little to do. They had met little Poros along the way – adorable, fluffy little creatures with horns, a rather large appetite and were incredibly friendly to people. Willump had been on edge around Poros until Nunu reassured him that they were harmless.

They had wrangled with a few predators along the way, found some deer to eat and rested whenever they found an area that offered protection from the wind.  
By now, the sun and moon had already been set back by five hours, and this unexpected event interfered with their habit of falling asleep when it became too dark to see the stars and wake up when the sun shone bright enough to penetrate their eyelids.  
This didn't matter much to them, but it was an adjustment that had to be made for their daily routine.

As they finally reached the top of the closest mountain to Lokfar, which showcased the sea and beyond, Nunu noticed that there was a stretch of frozen land, about a mile in width that extended outwards, going beyond the horizon.

'Let's go check it out, Willump!' said Nunu, pointing at it.

' _Grharh._ '  
Willump slid down the hill on his back until he reached even ground again.  
They approached the water and looked at the extension of land. It was frozen ice, not earth. The water had frozen to form a bridge across the water.

'Don't step on it, Willump! It probably won't hold your weight.'

' _Grunt grunt, grunt._ '

'No, I don't mean that you've fat. It's just that ice breaks very easy.'

' _Grunt._ '

'No hard feelings, right?'

Willump murmured.

Nunu could feel the ground shaking, right through Willump's body. 'Did you feel that, Willump?'

' _Uh Huh.'  
_

It was coming from inland. As the shaking got worse, Nunu and Willump could hear the sound of voices coming from the hilltops. A gang of sorts were coming towards them.  
'Quick, Willump! Let's get out of here!'

Willump nodded and ran towards a stray boulder towards their left. It was large enough for the big yeti to hide behind.

The two of them peeked around the corner to see an army of monsters charging towards the sea. As they approached, Nunu noticed that they were trolls. They were hulking in size, making even Willump look small by comparison. Each one had large muscles; coarse blue, brown or green skin; hair growing out of their backs and limbs and rags around their waists.

The biggest one of them all who was leading the pack was enormous. It could have easily taken Willump down if it so wished. Only a few of the other trolls came up to its nose in height. Its skin was blue, with a red beard and hair, long massive teeth on its jaw, and a large purple nose.

The general rule of thumb from troll clans was: the biggest and ugliest ones were the leaders. It carried a giant club with it; made of ice; thicker than five portly men and longer than ten tall men combined. This troll had overthrown the previous one – whom he deemed to be too timorous – by finding his massive club from Lissandra's very own layer, which was made of True Ice, and caving in his face. He called his club "Boneshiver".

'See, I told you there's a bridge here!' said a troll next to the leader. 'Since when have I ever lied to you?!'

'Plenty of lies, Sind!' said another troll angrily. 'You've stolen ale from my stash so many times now that I've lost count!'

'Did not!'

'Did too!'

'Did not!'

'Did too!'

'Did not!'

The trolls started barking at each other as they debated whether or not Sind was a liar.

'SILENCE!' bellowed the troll leader, slamming his club into the ground to catch their attention. Once everyone was quiet, he began speaking. 'We came here in the hopes of finding something valuable. There's never been a bridge here before, so like the stories of old, we will cross the bridge to see what's on the other side. Look, there are footprints here, so somebody has already gone over!' His voice was the deepest and gruffest of the lot.

'There could be treasure!' said one troll.

'Or weapons!' said a second.

'Or even more Ale!' said the troll who had accused Sind of stealing from him.

One troll near the back looked nervous. 'B-but that's a bridge made of ice… what if it breaks and we sink?'

All the other trolls turned towards him. 'What's that supposed to mean?!' said the leader.

'Well, we don't know how far this bridge goes and what it'll lead to. It could be a waste of our time.'

'Are you telling me you don't want to cross it?' said the leader with contempt on his teeth.

'No, that's not it. It's just… um…'

'I don't believe it! You're a coward!' bellowed the leader. 'Look everyone, Timber's a coward!'

The other trolls began to laugh as the leader went up to Timber, knocked him down with his club and started beating him repeatedly. Timber wasn't especially small but he wasn't big either and could not stop the big troll from beating him into submission.  
'You defy Trundle and you get hit by Clubbems!' the surly leader said.

'Chicken! Chicken!' chorused the other trolls. They laughed as Timber held his hands over his head.

He put on a brave face until he eventually couldn't take any more. 'Alright! Stop! Stop! I confess! I can't swim!'

Trundle stop beating him and smirked. The other troll laughed even harder though. Without much effort, Trundle grabbed Timber by the leg and dragged him towards the bridge. 'How pathetic!' he said and threw him onto the bridge. He slid across it and panicked as he tried to regain his balance.

Nunu held his breath. He had never seen something so brutal in his life. 'Don't say anything…' he whispered to Willump. The yeti nodded. Even _he_ looked scared.

'C'mon boys, let's get this princess a date with the ice!' said Trundle gleefully.

The trolls all sprang up at once and ran onto the bridge. Miraculously it held them all up and no cracks appeared.

Trundle reached Timber and swung his club as hard as he could with two hands and sent him sliding across the bridge like a giant curling stone. He screamed as he lost control and kept on sliding for more than three hundred metres.

'To the end we go! Go, go, go!' Trundle ordered.

All the trolls weren't adept and running across ice and some of them fell onto their faces, much to the amusement of the others, but they kept on going, taunting Timber as they did.

* * *

Nunu and Willump waited until the trolls were only a speck of dust in the distance. 'Do you think we should follow them, Willump?'

' _Grunt._ ' said Willump, meaning that he wasn't sure.

'Adventure is out there, and I'm desperate to know what lies at the other end.'

' _Grunt, grunt, grunt._ '

'True, but if we keep our distance, we should be fine, so long as they don't turn back. We can also go fishing as well if we need any more food.' Nunu had acquired a basic fisherman's kit from a settlement near Rakelstake. Whether he could figure out how to use it though was a different question altogether.

' _Grunt_.'

'Are you sure then?'

' _Grunt, Grunt._ '

'Then let's go!'

Willump took off and ran across the bridge.  
It was a heedless decision for sure, but Nunu knew that his gem would provide sustenance wherever he went.  
Besides, he could not ignore the insatiable desire to know what was on the other side of the bridge.

Was it a warm place full of sunshine and rainbows: a type of place that Nunu had never been before?  
Perhaps it had an infinite pot of gold at the end.  
It could have been another mysterious wintry land.  
Or maybe, just maybe… his mother was somewhere on the other side.

Nunu didn't have any bets on what he and Willump would find, but this didn't matter so long as his curiosity was fulfilled.  
And if the trolls did come back, then Willump could easily outrun them on a mile wide bridge that most would struggle to cross without falling over. The risk was worth the pay.

Not even the most foolhardy of Iceborn would have the guts to dare their lives to cross this land bridge, but Nunu and Willump's courage led them on to who knows where…


	16. The Conference

**Chapter 16** – The Conference

Somewhere in an unspecified location… stood a fortress comprised of nothing but power and malevolence. Rocky landscapes, purple crystals and sticky puddles of Grimm surrounded it and the sky was intoxicated with a sickly blood red colour that stung your eyes.

One room inside this domain was oval, with tall framed windows all around. A set of purple crystals stood at the base of square pillars that divided each window, with a melting wax candle on top of each.  
At the back end of the room was an altar with candles standing all the way across it.  
A conference table made of pure purple crystal stood at the centre, with six chairs made of unrefined tree stumps and tree bark as backrests on each side. At the head of the table, nearest the altar was a seat, also made of purple crystal.

Emerald and Mercury stood staring out of one of the windows on the right side. They both had broken noses and Mercury was hopping about on a set of crutches.  
Cinder was also there, sitting on the right chair closest to the door. She had cut her black hair short and now wore a new long red dress with an opening on her right.  
She looked distressed. A plethora of negative emotions were orbiting around her. Had it not been for the fact that she was inside the fortress, she would have been a free meal for the Grimm. The injuries she had received from the ninja had exposed her loathing of everything that did not go her way.

Three other people were also seated in the conference room.  
The man sat opposite of Cinder was called Dr. Arthur Watts. He was a former Atlesian scientist, with an esoteric understanding of computers and technology. He had short grey hair, with a bushy moustache and always wore a suit to go along with his pompous demeanour.

Two seats away from Watts was a beefy and exceptionally tall man called Hazel Rainart. He had short brown hair, wore an olive-green overcoat, held up by a large belt, and a black top underneath. At the table, he had his arms crossed and looked down, not making eye contact with anyone else.

Opposite him was a Faunus called Tyrian Callows, with a brown ponytail, a dark brown leather jacket and white trousers. He had a long scorpion tail as well, which he kept wrapped around him like a belt. He was squatting on the table instead of sitting and had a hyper look in his eyes that told you he was unstable.

Cinder snapped her fingers to signal that Emerald and Mercury were to come and stand beside her. Emerald shoved Mercury out of the way to try and make space for her to stand between him and Cinder.

'Yes, yes, please keep your… posse… in check.' Watts remarked at their puerile behaviour.

Mercury growled, clenched his fits and leaned over to say something back, but Emerald held him back.

'Good children,' he said condescendingly. 'Your attitude should be kept in line when you consider how you were bested humiliatingly by a Huntsman.'

The large wooden doors at the front of the room rattled as someone pushed it from the other side. Everyone in the room immediate stood up as someone went inside.  
It was a lady (well… sort of. She was barely meeting the criteria of being a human), with deathly white skin, red irises, a long black robe and a white bun on her back with six offshoots. Her robes concealed her feet, so it begged the question as she moved whether or not she had any feet. The lady seemed to glide across the floor rather than take steps.  
She carried an innate peremptory air with her that demanded obedience from others by simply being in her presence. She made her way behind the left side of the table and stopped by the altar. 'Watts…' she said. Watts turned to her. 'Is it your place to chastise others?' She raised and lowered her hand to signal that they were all to sit down.

'I apologise, ma'am. I'm not particularly fond of failure.'

Salem took her place at the head of the table. 'I see your reason for a lack of tolerance for non-success, but it is I that will appropriately reprimand young Cinder and her cronies for their defeat at Beacon.' she said firmly.

Dr. Watts had something on the tip of his tongue, but decided not to speak his objections. 'Of course, ma'am.' He replied subserviently.

Salem returned her attention to Cinder, Emerald and Mercury. 'So, I've heard the stories of your siege of beacon. If what I know is already correct, then I am right in saying that you three have disappointed me immensely.'

The three of them said nothing.

'What point should I address first? The fact that you were all beaten by one person; your failure to find either the relic or the Fall Maiden; your lack of control over the Grimm; or the number of casualties on our side compared to our enemies?'

Still, Cinder, Emerald and Mercury remained silent.

'It was not a rhetorical question, I'll have you know.' said Salem. 'Which part of your incompetence will I talk to you about?'

'If it were my doing, I'd go from least concerning to the biggest problem of them all.' said Hazel. His voice was exceptionally deep but calm.

'In that case, let's begin with the Grimm and how you failed to manipulate them properly.'

A sound came from the window behind the altar. It was very brief and sounded like a fairy scattering dust in its wake. Salem turned to it, but shook her head and dismissed the noise because she could no longer hear it.

'Now then, I want to discuss the Grimm and how this impacted the life of the robot girl.' said Salem sternly. She put both of her hands down onto the table. 'The original plan, as you all know, was to let Pyrrha Nikos kill the robot, with the assistance of Dr. Watts providing us with the means to hack our way into Beacon and Atlesian computers. Pyrrha and the robot were paired against each other. Emerald makes Pyrrha suffer an illusion that the robot is very dangerous and will accidently kill her by extreme force; magnetism beats metal of course; Cinder makes the broadcast to instil as much calamity as possible into the people; and the rest carries on from there. Can any of the three of you therefore give me a sufficient reason or excuse why the Nevermores began attacking the colosseum before these things happened? What went wrong and not according to plan?'

Cinder's mouth was dry. Her theory of something or someone leading the Grimm to Beacon prematurely was merely an unproven theory. Nevertheless, she attempted to use it as her shield and whispered into Emerald's ear so that she could voice Cinder's thoughts.  
'My lady, Grimm are attracted to negative feelings, and the Grimm that attacked Beacon were from Mountain Glenn. Right up to the point of their attack on the stadium, before the robot girl died, nothing that we could see had changed in the area. We believe therefore that someone or something must have lured them to the stadium earlier than they should have.'

Salem rolled this idea in her head. 'That would require either a ludicrous amount of negative emotions or something that actively went out of its way to get the Grimm's attention. If you cannot prove something as preposterous as this, then do not use such transparent justification.'

'But ma'am, what else could explain the Grimm's behaviour? We did nothing to provoke it.'

'I ask questions. You answer questions.' Salem snapped. 'Even if your speculation is true, you should have seen the provoker coming. How could you possibly fail to spot something that could catch the attention of multiple Nevermores all the way from Mount Glenn?'

'We were standing in the city and not really near the colosseum.' said Mercury. It was the closest we could get to it without actually being _in_ the stadium.'

'This does not nullify you losing control over the Grimm though. As a result, the streets were cleared of Grimm faster than they should have been, and even the Grimm Dragon was slain. What do you have to say for yourselves about that?'

'I cannot adequately explain why the Grimm went rogue my lady, but perhaps it was the beast that slayed the Dragon which caused the unnatural disturbance of the Grimm.' said Emerald. 'It was full of anger and hatred. It called itself the "World-Ender".'

'Except for the fact that it arrived _after_ Dragon began its attack on Beacon and certainly well after the Nevermores assaulted the colosseum. Your premises aren't bad but your deductive reasoning and logic are flawed, child.' said Salem harshly.

'Yes ma'am.' Emerald replied miserably.

'Speaking of the Grimm Dragon, its death is a rather large setback.' Watts interjected.

'It was killed by something completely out of our control.' said Mercury.

'We couldn't have expected something like that appearing at just that moment. Not even two dozen trained Huntsmen and Huntresses could even scathe it. How were we to stop it from killing the Dragon?' agreed Emerald.

'Perhaps you could not defeat it, but you could have made a better effort at protecting the Dragon. Did it not cross your minds to get more actively involved in the battle, rather than stand on a rooftop at a sniper's range?' Salem asked.

Cinder leaned over to Emerald and whispered into her ear once again. 'We decided it would be better to wait and see what the beast did. Since it was so occupied with the kids, Huntsmen and Huntresses, we hoped it might kill them for us.'

'And it didn't…' said Salem.

'But, look at the bright side, my lady, it destroyed the Beacon Tower for us.' said Emerald, trying to sound as positive as possible.

'You do not receive credit for results and outcomes that were brought about unintentionally.' said Watts. 'This does not make up for the rest of your faults.'

'Watts, I said that I would be the one to berate these kids.' said Salem forcefully.

'Of course, ma'am. I just thought that that point had to be made.'

'I do agree with Dr. Watts.' said Salem, turning back to Cinder, Emerald and Mercury. 'The World-Ender did the job that you and the Dragon were supposed to do for you, therefore I obviously cannot praise you for this, especially when so much more has gone wrong.'

'Yes my lady.' Emerald agreed dejectedly.

'Repeat the name you heard it say.' Salem ordered.

'It sounded something like "Aytrox".' said Mercury. 'I don't know how you spell it, but that's just what I heard.'

'And describe what it looked like and what it did.'

'It was massive…' said Mercury. 'with armour all over its body, big wings, glowing red eyes, a pumping heart and a giant sword that's bigger than everyone in this room put together, with a beating heart of its own.'

'How big are we talking about? Be more specific…' Hazel muttered.

'Like, huuuge. Multiple storeys high with enough power to chop down entire large buildings. Trust me Hazel, not even _you_ could take it on.'

'And what makes you so sure about that?'

'Because it made short work of everyone it encountered. Not a single shot from more than twenty weapons even remotely hurt it. Even Ozpin and his colleagues could do nothing to it.'

Salem placed her chin in her palm. If Ozpin had not been able to take it on, then it was not out of the question that she would struggle to face it. 'Is there anything else worth knowing about this humongous sword wielder?' she asked, hiding her nervousness.

'Its voice was deafening.' said Emerald. 'Every single one of its shouts made me want to pull my ears out. It was not just a bark though. Aytrox's bite absolutely hurt. Please pardon my rudeness, my lady, but even you could falter at its feet if you misplayed a fight with it.'

She couldn't know for sure what Aatrox was capable of. If it was true to its title of 'World-Ender', then it could possess power that Salem herself would be envious of. There was no telling how she would fare against him without actually engaging in a battle. Salem was powerful, very powerful as a matter of fact, but the idea of a demonic beast being able to destroy everything in its path and defeat entire armies certainly made her perturbed. She had not felt this way since facing Ozpin in his prime.

'Oh, that sounds like a guy that is more than worthy of a _sting_!' said Tyrian, speaking for the first time. He had been resisting the urge to speak, but had to let out his thoughts. 'I would go and find this Aytrox and bring him to his knees!'

'Except for the fact that he's currently frozen outside of Beacon.' said Watts, who was frankly revolted by Tyrian's psychotic behaviour.

'Precisely my thoughts.' said Salem. 'Let's ignore Aytrox for now and talk more about the star that turned Beacon into a golden wreck.'

Cinder whispered into Emerald's ear yet again. 'We didn't see and don't know exactly what happened, ma'am. Something fell out of the sky and it just put the school and Aytrox is stasis. We can't explain what caused it or how it happened.'

'Are you familiar at all with this phenomena, my Lady?' Watts asked.

'Not at all…' Salem replied. 'But I am not concerned with how it happened right now. The relic should still be there, along with the Fall Maiden. Cinder, was it not you who suggested that they would be located underground?'

'Y…y-yes…' she managed to mutter.

'There's a slight problem though…' said Emerald.

'Speak girl.' Salem permitted.

'The, umm… golden star covered the whole ground surrounding Beacon in solid gold.'

'And this is a problem because..?'

'I mean, we don't know what the stuff is made of, we might struggle to force our way past the coating without destroying too much stuff in the process. If we accidently caved in or destroy either the Fall Maiden or the Relic, then that puts a damper on our plans.'

'Young Emerald, you don't know until you've tried. A layer of solid gold is not going to get in my way.'

'But keep in mind that Aytrox is there too. It would be best not to awaken him.'  
Salem stood up and went to the altar. She picked up a candle, brought it to the table and placed it down few metres away from her. The blood red sky was darkening. 'Where did Ozpin and his friends go after the fight was subsided?' she asked.

'Honestly, I have no idea.' Emerald replied. 'We awoke after being knocked out and they weren't at Beacon. The battle was over and that's when we saw the school and Aytrox covered in gold.'

Salem sighed. 'Nevermind.' she said, her patience thinning.

Before she could continue, she heard the same sound again. As with last time, it was for a fleeting moment and was very subtle, but distinct as well. She wanted to mention it to everyone else, but decided to ignore it. 'Before we finally move on to the obvious goliath in the room, I want you three to tell me more about the ninja that bested you.'

Cinder, Emerald and Mercury looked at each other. 'What do you want to know..?' Mercury asked.

'Stand up you three.'

They did and swallowed their breath, knowing they were going to get heavily scolded. 'Judging by your injuries and what I heard from the feedback I got from Dr. Watts in passing, I'd say you didn't just lose, but you were utterly trounced. Is that true?'

'Yes…' said Emerald as innocently as possible.

Salem slammed her hands down on the table and stood up as well. 'You are three highly skilled and formidable combatants! One of you even has power that transcends most Huntsmen and Huntresses and their Semblances! You were able to defeat a Season Maiden as a team, and yet you somehow lose almost instantly and effortlessly to a ninja! How did you let this happen?! Explain yourselves!'

The three conversed quietly together, planning what to say to their mistress.

'Oh, and I want to hear Cinder tell me what happened.' said Salem adamantly. 'She is an adult and can speak for herself.'

Cinder took a deep breath and cleared her throat before talking. It hurt her throat to simple make a sound. 'Emerald and Mercury beat Pyrrha Nikos, quite handily for that matter, and they held her out so that I could shoot her with the fatal arrow…' as she spoke, her breath became heavy. 'But then… a shield consumed her and it deflected the arrow straight into by shoulder. Then the ninja appeared. He had this floating energy-like sword with him and he told Pyrrha to stand next to it. I can't properly tell you what happened next though. He flew towards me in the blink of an eye and seemed to go through my very body. At that point, I sort of lost control of my actions and began swinging my swords at him uncontrollably. After that… it all happened so quickly… he slammed one sword through my shoulder, somehow got me on my knees in less than a second, and stabbed me in the leg once before I lost all consciousness…'

The words had barely been audible over Cinder's raspy voice and the eerie moan across the domain, but Salem still caught every one of them. 'And what about you two?' she said, addressing Emerald and Mercury. 'I was hoping to hear more from Cinder, but it seems that you two fell after she did. Spit it out to me then.'

Emerald spoke first, with a stone in her throat. 'As… the ninja beat up Cinder, Mercury and I continuously shot Pyrrha, but for some reason our weapons did nothing to her. Once Cinder was down, the ninja turned his attention to us. I swear, he moved faster than light. I felt my weapon being wrenched from my arms that was the last thing I remember before having the lights snuffed out of me.'

'Just one punch to your nose and you dropped?' Salem nagged. 'Cinder underwent multiple strikes before losing. You on the other hand only received one on the nose and that was enough to put you to rest? Is that what I'm hearing?'

'Yes ma'am…' said Emerald quietly.

She scowled, trying not to lose her temper. 'And what about you?' she said to Mercury.

'Umm…' he murmured.

'Surely you must has _some_ sort of recollection of what happened?!'

'Yeah, yeah I do. I'm just… trying to word it right…' he responded, scratching his head. 'He used Emerald's weapon to grab one of my boots from off the ground and pull me closer to him. He then used one his swords on my ankles but couldn't cut through the mechanical parts.' He hesitated to speak once again.

'And what happened after that?' Salem demanded impatiently.

'I didn't see how he did it, but he made his sword all glowy and it seemed to strengthen its striking power. He cut his way through the metal and did some serious damage to the inside.' Mercury paused, chewing on his own frustration. 'When he was done doing that, he pulled me even closer and just punched me extremely hard in the face. At that point I just lost all vision and awareness of myself.'

'Presumably you were punched in the nose as well, judging by your plaster on it.'

Mercury gently stroked the plaster. 'Yeah…'

'Sit down.' Salem said imperiously. The three of them took their places. 'You three disappoint me! You're a disgrace!' she said, on the verge of exploding, but she only just kept her composure. 'Are you three effectively saying that you lost because he caught you off guard?! Did he _really_ move so fast that you had no time to defend yourselves?!'

'I guess that's the best way you could explain it.' said Mercury, feigning a smile.

'I find this really hard to believe.' Salem responded and sat down. 'In all your years of fighting experience, you've dealt with foes who have had the element of surprise and moved faster than the eye can see and in virtually every occasion you have come out on top too. That's how you three have gotten to where you are now: by playing dirty and expecting the unexpected. This guy didn't even get the jump on you and you _still_ failed to react in time?' she fumed.

'What did this fellow look like?' Watts asked. 'Was he wearing anything that might suggest where he came from?'

Cinder, Emerald and Mercury pondered the question.

'He was wearing almost all blue.' said Emerald.

'And he had a mask on, so we couldn't see who he was.' Mercury added.

'Something unusual about him however was how his body seemed very otherworldly.' said Cinder.

'Elaborate on what you mean by that.' Watts persisted.

'Only a bit of his body was actually visible and not covered by garments, most notably his arms. They seemed to be fading in and out of reality.' Cinder tried to explain.

'And he had that giant floating sword next to him as well.' Emerald pointed out.

'That might have been a part of his Semblance.' Mercury hypothesised.

'I doubt it.' said Salem. 'The way you describe him means it's too unusual to be a mere Semblance.'

She stood up once again and went to the altar to bring another candle back to the table. This time she placed it at the other end near Cinder and Watts before sitting back in her seat.

'We've only mentioned this topic briefly, but we can't ignore the sudden appearance of a second moon in the sky and the fact that the cycle of day and night has appeared to become longer.'

'Is there anything in particular you want to talk about regarding this issue?' Hazel asked.  
'It's a general concern. We should discuss what we think has happened, by what means, how and for what reason.'

The sparkling noise could be heard for a third time. On this occasion it came more from the direction where Cinder, Emerald and Mercury sat, although it still sounded like it came from the outside. Salem growled and leaned over the table to see if she could figure out what was making the irritation.

'What are you looking at?' Watts asked.

'Do you hear that sound?' Salem asked frustrated.

'Forgive my uncouthness ma'am, but there are a lot of _funny_ sounds around here.'

'It's a glittery sound. I've heard it three times now.'

'Perhaps your senses are a bit more tuned than ours.' Watts commented. 'You are the Queen of evil after all.'

'Oh, you're not crazy my lady, I heard it too.' said Tyrian deliriously. 'Well, I'm crazy, but both you and I see and hear alike.'

'Ugh… forget it. If I hear it again, I'll indicate in the direction it comes from. Back to the issue at hand.'

'Knowing you, my lady, I would've thought that you of all people might have caused, or at least could explain how, such an event came to be.' said Tyrian sycophantically.

'I wouldn't start an open debate if I had the answers already.' said Salem.

'Oh, no, that is obvious, but I am merely stating that this is all probably within your grasp and understanding!'

'Your flattery is certainly welcome Tyrian, but even I am not infallible. You will rarely ever her me criticise myself, but I shall do so now. It is not within my ability to make an entire moon just come out of nowhere or change how light and dark weave in and out of each other. However, I do have a theory.'

'What is your theory on?' asked Hazel.

'The seemingly impossible has not always been actually impossible.'

Everyone else in the room gave her a perplexed look. 'I've existed for more than one thousand years and I have seen Remnant go through some crazy phases where the very laws of nature have been broken. A sceptic is likely to believe that magic doesn't exist, but the supernatural is super for a reason and beyond most of mankind's belief and comprehension.'

'Where are you going with this?' Hazel said drearily.

'Let me finish.' said Salem. 'When there is such thing as the supernatural, it is not enough to depend on science and our understanding of the universe via observation and evidence alone. If even an ounce of occult activity can exist, then who's to say where the limits of reality lie? I am powerful; that's a fact. But the universe is infinite and ever-expanding. The probability of there being other planets and worlds out there with their own intelligent life forms is exceptionally high, based on the ratio of the universe's size compared to the number of solar systems and planets within them. And with planets like our own, there is potential for beings of immense power like myself to exist as well. There could very well be a divine or supernatural hand that has hung a new moon in the sky and decelerated the speed of Remnant's rotation on its axis.'

'It is an interesting theory ma'am, but do you think it is a likely one?' asked Watts. 'As you say, we are dealing with the supernatural after all: the unexplainable and transgression of physics and nature. Anything could be plausible.'

'On its own, my idea holds little concrete outside of it being a mere possibility that is hard to verify when other explanations also have to be falsified. What gives it more weight however is the sudden appearance of this ninja who possesses otherworldly spiritualism based on Cinder's description of him, as well as the "World-Ender: Aytrox". It would help if I saw them with my own eyes to confirm this, but I'm almost certain they aren't from Remnant.'

'In other words, you're saying they're from another world?'

'If it was just the ninja, I wouldn't use him as a basis for my hypothesis, since young Black is right in saying that it his display _could_ have been linked to his Semblance, but Aytrox is not something you would find on this planet. He would be from… somewhere else…' Salem faltered.

'Is something the matter, your grace?'

'I've never felt this uneasy before.'

'Oh, come now my dear! The Empress of Evil has no reason to fear a generic monster! You are more than well equipped to deal with it! Hehe!' said Tyrian unctuously.

'Quiet, Tyrian!' said Salem annoyed. 'Do not speak unnecessarily out of turn and assume that this World-Ender is a foe that you can merely spit in the direction of and it'll fall! You have a lot to learn before you have the wise judgement to gauge your enemies and how powerful they are!'

Tyrian put himself back into a squatting position on his chair and curled himself into a ball. He faked whimpering. 'Yes my lady.' he said more quietly.

'So let's go on your theory ma'am.' said Watts, bringing them back to the discussion. 'If we assume that some potent being has created a new moon and has also reduced the speed of Remnant's rotation, then what do we do from here?'

'Before that, I must confess that I have withheld something. It's an inner feeling: a sensation if you like.'  
'What kind?'

'It's a feeling of Remnant shaking violently. It happened only five days ago and the queasiness it made me feel was unprecedented.'

'If I may ma'am, I would like to add that seismic activity has been reported off the coasts of Western Sanus and Eastern Anima. The earthquakes were especially violent out at sea, however very little damage was done to the mainland itself. Perhaps this is what you and your sixth sense felt.'

'Yes, maybe. But anyway, as I was saying, we need to possess an awareness of what is going on and what's happened as we prepare a siege of the ruins of Beacon. The Fall Maiden and the relic are still ours to collect. So long as we avoid Aytrox and Ozpin's gang, then it'll be onto Spring and Haven next. But for no-'

For a fourth time, the sparkling sound was omitted. This time it came from outside the two massive wooden doors. Salem stood up and thumped the table with her right fist.

'Did you hear it?!' she said loudly. 'It came from outside there!' she pointed.

After she stopped shouting, a childish giggle sounded from outside the doors as well.

'Hazel, go and see what it causing that irritating noise.' Salem ordered venomously.  
He stood up without saying a word and plodded to the wooden doors and pushed both of them open with just one hand.

The hallway it led to was dark and lit only by a few gloomy candles. Hazel squinted across the dark corridor. He could see nothing.

'Psst, up here!' whispered a voice.

Hazel looked up and immediately jumped back in shock as he saw a little girl with long flowing, glittery hair, a blue top, scarf, shorts and socks floating above the doorway.

Her face was beaming with excitement and curiosity.  
'Hi!' she said.

* * *

Zoe floated down and strutted into the room without a care in the world. It took Hazel a moment to recover from his stupefied surprise. 'Now hold on there, little girl!' he bellowed. 'Where do you think you're going?!'

The Aspect of Twilight turned around and stuck her tongue out at him.

'Why you LITTLE!' he dove for the intruder, but Zoe cartwheeled out of the way and Hazel landed flat on his front by the conference table. He grunted as he pulled himself up in a rage.

Tyrian leaped off of his seat, set his wild eyes on Zoe and sprang like a cat.

With her trickster tactics at the ready, Zoe created a mini portal that caught Tyrian in his trajectory.

He dived straight through it and emerged above the table, landing on it frontwards with the candles underneath him. He screeched as the flames burned his chest and he leaped up and danced around the room in pain.

Zoe laughed. 'Is this the best physical representation you can manifest?! It completely lacks zazz!'

Salem watched her courtroom turn into a circus in horror. 'ENOUGH!' she screamed. She summoned a ball of dark energy and sent it towards Zoe.

In response, Zoe jumped upwards to avoid it and volleyballed a large bubble towards Salem before she landed back on the ground. 'Catch!' The bubble hit Salem and popped.

'I demand to know who you a-' Salem fell asleep after two seconds.

'There are so many weirdos here… it's awesome!' Zoe commented. 'I don't like that old hag though, she's ugly!'

Watts, Cinder, Emerald and Mercury remained seated, afraid that any movement they made would provoke the child.

Zoe faced all of them in turn. 'Oh, hey there! My name's Zoe! Do you wanna play?!'

They all remained silent. 'Could we play a game, pleeease?! Grownups can play too you know!'

Eventually Watts spoke. 'Who are you?' he said as calmly as he could.

'I already told you, my name's Zoe! What's your name?!'

'My name is no concern of yours.'

'Please tell me! I'll give you a chocolate mooncake!'

Watts looked turned his head from Zoe, to Hazel, to Tyrian, to Salem and then back to Zoe.

'I don't mean to be churlish girl, but I suppose you have been exceptionally so already, so I'll ask you more forcefully: how did you get in here? Who are you? And tell me more than just your name.'

'Grownups are so stubborn...' Zoe whinged. 'I'm just a girl who likes playing with people and realities!'

'No one knows where this place is. How is it that a girl like yourself could waltz in here? Answer my question you brat!'

'You're mean, old man! Portals!'

'Excuse me?'

'Portals! Look!'  
A portal opened next to Zoe's left side. She reached inside and pulled out a vanilla ice-cream cone. 'Here you go!' she said and lobbed it at Watts. It landed squarely on his head upside down and splatted over his neatly combed hair.

Watts stood up, swiped the cone off of his head and clenched his fists.

'Oops, sorry!' said Zoe. 'I assumed you would catch it. I guess old people aren't very good at playing ball games… That's a shame.'  
She turned her attention to Cinder, Emerald and Mercury. 'You guys look younger than that moustached moron. Do you wanna play cosmic table tennis?!' she tossed a sparkling ball up and down in her hand.

The three of them couldn't muster and sort of coherent sentence.  
'You can talk right?!' Zoe asked. She looked at Emerald and Mercury more attentively. 'Oh, are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?! How did you two get together?! You must tell me!'  
Emerald and Mercury chuckled nervously.

'Umm, look…' Emerald stammered. 'I don't know what you want from us, but we're not here to play. We were in a serious meeting until you came.'

'A meeting?! That's boring! Why don't you at least have some food to munch on?!'

'Listen kid.' said Hazel. 'I can see you're a slippery devil. So I'm instead going to ask you to skedaddle. If you don't, I swear on my life I won't miss the next time I try to snap your neck.'

'All bark and no bite!' Zoe retorted. 'Besides, I can help you! I've been listening to everything you've been saying from outside!'

Salem awoke in a daze. She shook her head and recovered her senses.

Zoe was walking across the table as though it were a tightrope. She saw that Salem was awake. 'Hi there you ugly old hag! My name is Zoe! What's yours?!'

Salem couldn't believe her ears. This little miscreant had just walked into her domain with no regard for breaching another person's property and now she was throwing around insults. ' _The NERVE of this little girl!_ ' she thought, but knew that there was something very threatening about her. It would be best not to attack but just go along with her game for now.

'You are lucky that I haven't vaporised you yet.' Salem threatened. In truth she had no idea how formidable Zoe was, however she thought that perhaps intimidating her would be a way to get her under control. 'If it wasn't for the fact that I find your childishness mildly amusing and that I want to know how you got here, you'd be dead before you could even blink.'

Zoe yawned disrespectfully. 'Blah blah blah, empty threat from a generic witch. I've seen it all in other worlds already!' said Zoe. 'I've introduced myself! Now you have the obligation to introduce me to everyone else here! After that, I can help you with your "otherworldly" dilemma!'

Salem looked at Zoe suspiciously. There was no way they could take someone this immature seriously. What could she possibly know about that would be of any use to them with regards to Remnant and the new moon. But then again, if she had the audacity, _and_ the capability, to walk into her layer without a care in the world, then it might be worth hearing her out.

'Fine. My name is Salem. Everyone, please say your name to satisfy our self-invited guest's needs.'  
Everyone said there name – even Tyrian wrangled enough sense to stop and say his name clearly.

'Great!' said Zoe happily. 'So, I eavesdropped on your little conference! I'm not sorry about that by the way, since I have the answers you want!'

'My first question in that case is: were you the one who made that glittery noise while we were all talking?'

'Yeah, it was! Sparkles! I love sparkles!'

'So you claim to be able to answer our massive questions. If you were listening to us then tell me what has happened. Why is there a second moon in the sky? How is it that the planet's rotation has slowed down? And most importantly of all, where did you come from?'

'Oh, so many questions! I don't wanna spill the beans on too many of them! If you guess where I'm from, then you can probably tell what has happened to your planet!'

That was a giveaway. " _Your_ planet." she to herself.  
'You're from another world, aren't you?'

'Bingo! You're right on target! Answer more questions right and I really _will_ give you some chocolate mooncakes!'

'If you're from different world, then it was someone from your world who put a moon next above our planet.'

'Hmm… you're partially right! Keep going, you can do it!'

'Let me make a guess.' Watts interrupted. 'Do you live on that moon and did someone move it next to our planet?'

'No, not really. The mooncakes have nothing to do with the moon, and I don't live on it, that's for sure!'

'Okay… in that case, you live on a planet somewhere far away and for some reason someone decided to move your moon next to our one?'

'You're still a bit off! I'll give you a hint though: think about the earthquakes you just mentioned!'

Watts pondered the thought. It seemed so unreal, but he made a random shot in the dark and guessed the ludicrous. As he had said himself, they were dealing with the supernatural. 'Has your world… merged with ours?'

'Another strike!' said Zoe energetically. 'That's correct! And guess who did it!'

Everyone looked around the room. The same inconceivable thought was flowing through all of them like a rushing river.

'You're not seriously telling us that…' Hazel began.

'Mm-hmm, go on!' Zoe encouraged.

'You did this..?'

'Boom! There you go! You got there eventually! All of you get chocolate mooncakes!' She reached into her hair and pulled one out. 'Umm… except that I might only have one chocolate one left… Would strawberry be okay though?!'

'I don't care about your cakes!' said Salem bitterly. 'If you claim to have merged your world with ours, then do you care to tell us _why_ you did it?'

'You may not care, but does everyone else want a cake?!' Zoe said to everyone in the room.

'Sure, I could go for a cake.' said Mercury insouciantly. 'Toss one over here.'

'That's the spirit!' said Zoe as she reached into her hair, pulled out a strawberry bun and tossed it Mercury. He caught it and bit into it.

'Hmm, tastes pretty good.' he said with his mouth full. 'You guys should try one.'

'Before you serve dessert to everyone here, tell me why you have been so reckless to merge two planets together.' said Salem. There was ice in her tone, as well as a trace of fear, which Zoe noticed.

'I can tell you're afraid of me, Salem!' she said teasingly. 'Don't worry though, I won't hurt you, so long as you behave like a good girl! I was just bored, so I found your planet and felt like merging it mine to see what would happen!'

It was true, Salem was genuinely scared. ' _How could anyone this young be so powerful?_ ' she thought in her head.

'So _this_ is what caused the earthquakes and the reason why the clocks have slowed down…' said Watts. 'How have the seas and gravity not been heavily affected by this then? How do we know you're not fibbing?'

'Dear Watts, I make the rules! I don't follow them! Every reality is finite and waiting to be replaced by something different!'

'This is complete nonsense…' Watts muttered. 'I'm sorry ma'am.' he said to Salem. 'I'm not buying this. We can't listen to a child who has probably been granted power that doesn't belong to her and take her unverified word as gospel.'

'Suit yourself old man! I'm just telling you the truth! It's up to you whether or not you want to believe it!'

Everyone sat in stunned silence. Even Tyrian was unflinching.

'Welp, I'm off now! It was great to meet you all! Uhh, except the big ape and the scorpion, you two attacked me! I'm not leaving you two any cakes, but the rest of you get one!'

Hazel gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, whilst Tyrian shook with hyperactive anticipation. He had wanted to sink his teeth and stinger into the girl as soon as he saw her.

'I might come back and visit, but for now I have so many places to explore and a boyfriend to go and visit! Well, he's not really my boyfriend _yet_ , but I just _know_ he'll say yes!'

'He's a fool to say "yes to her".' Mercury whispered to Emerald.

'I _heard_ that!' Zoe yelled and turned to both of them. 'Don't be so mean just because you're a cute couple!'

'We're not a couple, for your information.' said Emerald indignantly. 'We'll all just allies here and nothing more.'

'Hmm, well anyway, here's some cakes for everyone!' Zoe said as she pulled even more cakes out of her hair and placed them on the table. She leaped off of it and landed by the wooden doors. 'Bye, bye for now! Promise me we'll play games later!'

'Hold up, you are not going anywhere!' said Salem, who stood up and moved towards Zoe with her arms open. 'I can't trust you leaving with full information of who we are!'

'Don't worry Salem, I don't know anyone else on your planet, so I have no reason to tell everyone about you! I'm really good at keeping secrets! I promise!' She skipped around the table towards the altar, scat singing to herself.

'Tyrian, grab her!' Salem ordered.

In an instant, Tyrian launched himself off of his chair towards Zoe with his tongue out of his mouth. But just like the first attempt, Zoe moved out of the way and created a portal that caught him mid-flight. Tyrian dived straight into it and the portal closed. This time however, another one didn't open in the room.

'Oops…' said Zoe. 'I um… may have sent him somewhere by mistake…'

'Where?' said Hazel, cracking his knuckles as he rose from his seat.

'I don't know, honestly!' Zoe replied. 'I promise I'll find him for you! Once I bring him back, we can play a game together! Please?! Pretty please?!'

Salem and Hazel had had enough. Salem sent a ball of black energy at her and Hazel lunged.

'I guess I'm not welcome here anymore! Gotta go!' said Zoe. She created a portal beneath her feet and she stuck out her tongue, pulled her lips out with her fingers and blew a raspberry as she was sucked away.

Salem's black energy hit where Zoe had been, only Hazel was now there with his arms outstretched he had attempted to grab her. The blast hit him and he was sent flying into the altar. His heavy body collided with it and knocked all the candles down with him.

He grunted as he picked himself up off the floor.

Salem slammed her fists and head down onto the table and cried out in anger. Everything had become even worse than things already were. Tyrian was gone, their location was exposed and she was at the mercy of an infantile delinquent with power that made Salem look puny by comparison.

'Ma'am, please calm down.' said Emerald.

'It's just like she said, she has no reason to tell anyone about us. If we cooperate with her, then we should be fine.' Watts added.

'I'll get that trickster! She'll pay for manipulating me!'

Zoe truly did live up to her name.

* * *

'I thought you were chasing Ezreal.' said Aurelion Sol.

'Yeah, I was! But he was asleep on the boat and I didn't have the courage to wake him up! I thought he wouldn't like it if I did that…'

'How very thoughtful of you.' he remarked sarcastically. 'If only you were this considerate around other people who want nothing to do with you.'

'Don't laugh at me space dragon! Do you know how hard it is to speak to someone you love?!'

'Thinking that someone is cute, whom you have never talked to before, is not the same as loving them.'

'How would you know?! You've never fallen for anyone in your life!'

'That's because no one can impress me. I'm one of a kind. But I do know that love is as real a force as it is gravity. You should try it once in a while.'

'I do! I've been trying to get a boyfriend for centuries!'

'Lust does not count as love, and you should never get your hopes up, because there is _no one_ in the universe that would like someone as obnoxious and intolerable as you.'

Zoe wiped a tear out of her eye. She had hardened to Aurelion Sol's mordacity and strictness, but words as unsympathetic as those could still fracture her soul.

'You're so mean space dragon! Why are you so horrible?!'

'I'm just being truthful. That's all.'

Aurelion Sol let Zoe sob for a minute before resuming their conversation. 'Are you finished with your tears yet? You said you had something interesting to tell me.'

'Huh? Oh yeah! So, I met with this witch and her cronies! They treated her like she was some revered goddess and she behaved like she was the most powerful thing in existence – well, aside from the onetime she said she wasn't flawless!'

Upon hearing this, Aurelion Sol began to laugh hysterically. 'Hahahahaha! REALLY! That is _adorably_ amusing! Her standards must be exceptionally low if she thinks she knows what true power is!'

'To be fair, when she met me, she was quite scared around me, since I told her who merged her planet with mine!'

'And what was her response to that?'

'I can't really tell, but I know that she was awestruck by how awesome I am! She also seemed like the kind of evildoer who wants to take over the world!'

'Ahh, the blind mortals with superiority complexes; they're all equally laughable. Generic, but amusing nonetheless.' He juggled three giant fireballs in his hands, humming to himself.

'So have you been humoured yet, arrogant space dragon?!'

'Not too much has happened so far, but I have been pleasantly entertained by some of the things I have seen. Witnessing the Darkin attack the school was an unexpected turn of events and I must admit though that I was shamefully excited by seeing the Pantheon show up to the battle. Although I am thoroughly displeased with Bard interfering and saving the day every time something thrilling is about to happen. He's an absolute killjoy sometimes.'

'Yeah, but it is what it is. Just like how doughnuts have holes in them and the fact that Ezreal's so cute.'

Aurelion Sol sighed and put his fireballs behind his tail.

'Anyway, I'd better go. I promised the witch I'd go and find one of her bad guys.' said Zoe

'Hmm, what are you talking about?'

'I accidently opened a portal and sent him somewhere. I have no idea where he is.'

'Remnant and Runeterra are two rather big planets. Someone as infinitesimally small as you is going to have an extremely hard time locating him.'

'You find him then! You're gigantic!'

'No. Why would I help you?'

'Because… I dunno! Because we're friends!'

'We are _not_ friends.'

'Friends are supportive of each other and don't tell nasty jokes!'

'Then what does the evidence suggest?'

Zoe pouted like a child. 'Fine! I'll search for him myself!'

'That's a good girl. Growing up and showing independence. This certainly is a mediocre display. I am almost impressed. Almost…'

She stuck out her tongue and flew towards the planets. 'I'll come back soon!' she said.

'Please don't. I was enjoying the view without you here.' said Aurelion Sol sardonically. 'You know what, I take it back. Go and pester Ezreal once you've found this guy. He is infinitely more likely to be interested in you than me.'

'Yeah, I was planning to see him again! By the way, are you going down there at any point?'

'I am content with just watching the show at the moment, but if I get bored I might make an indelible entrance to whoever I think needs a fright. What's the name of the witch you met with?'

'Her name's Salem.'

'Salem is it? I'll take note of that.'

After one last giggle, Zoe flew back to Remnant.

Aurelion Sol realised after she had gone that he'd forgotten to ask where Salem was located. 'Never mind.' he said to himself. 'This pantomime has only just started and I have the best front row seat in the theatre. There's no hurry to mingle with these specs of dust just yet.'


	17. Two Moons and One Sun

**Chapter 17** – Two Moons and One Sun

To the very west of Shurima is the summit that withholds no punches: Mount Targon. It is a region of virtually unreachable horizons and where settlements can realistically only thrive at its bottom, where it is lush and green. The mini mountains around it are like ants compared to a fully grown human.  
Mount Targon has many legends and speculative beliefs about its long history. The mountain itself was formed through the process of magic and not from natural, tectonic, geological processes. Some are incredulous to believe the things said about it, but others are open to the many stories found in its recollections. Though if geography tells you anything, a structure this tall could not have been caused by Mother Nature alone.

Many people are drawn to Targon's mystical reputation and have aspired to climb the mountain to the very top, whether it be for a calling, glory or sense of accomplishment. Though whilst it is not literally insurmountable, Mount Targon is fiendishly difficult to climb. Few have ever made it to the top, fewer have descended back to tell the tale, and even fewer still have made it to the top and met a celestial. Most who attempt the pilgrimage tragically die from exhaustion, illness, freezing weather or simply placing one foot in the wrong, fatal place.  
Yet the climb of Mount Targon presents more challenges than just physical ones. The Celestials that are anticipating the arrival of a new climber will test them by causing them to hallucinate, playing on their fears and even bringing back horrifying and regrettable memories.

There are a few communities and groups at the base of Mount Targon, but the most prominent is the Rakkor. All Rakkor are raised to believe that the sun is the creator of all life. If you take it a step further though and dedicate your life to the sun and the religion, you are known as a 'Solari'.  
On the opposite end of the spectrum though is the 'Lunari' who instead worship the moon. The Lunari are much smaller in population though, since they've been purged by the Solari and an elite army within it – the Ra-Horak – and have had their scriptures banned.

The most prominent member of the Lunari for a long time was Diana: Scorn of the Moon. She came to Mount Targon with her parents, who had hoped to find revelation and promise of a new life. But whilst Diana had been held in the safety of her mother's womb, both she and her husband had been in a constant battle against the relentless climate of storms and wind. In her dying moment, Diana's mother gave birth to her on a rocky slope and died, with Diana's father perishing shortly afterwards.

The next day, Hunters of the Solari found Diana as the storm relinquished its fury. They took her into the Temple of Solstice, gave her the name of Diana and raised her as a Solari. She trained with the Ra-Horak and learned all the legends of the sun.  
All the Solari elders emphasised how life can from the sun and that no possible nourishment could come from the moon: all teachings that conflicted with Solari scripture were prohibited and anything that even had anything remotely to do with the Lunari was at threat of eradication.

Despite every effort made to keep all knowledge of the Lunari out of Diana's mind, she was fascinated by the moon and its beautiful light, as opposed to the Sun's mighty glare.  
As she grew older, she was at odds with the elders of the Solari, but Diana was an inquisitor of the teachings. She refused to blindly accept them as truths.

Diana become more of an outcast with each passing day. She watched the moon disappear over the summit from where she was situated each night and felt an urge to fulfil a sense of destiny.

And on a revelatory day in the library, Diana serendipitously found a text – albeit faded and fragmented – about the Lunari. They taught about the cycle of day and night and how this was essential for eternal universal harmony.  
It was the moment of realisation for Diana and what she had been innately feeling throughout her childhood.

She found an elderly woman, covered in a bearskin cloak, who was trying to climb the mountain. She faltered and saw Diana and called for her help. Diana knew that climbing Mount Targon was a nigh impossibility, but her magnanimity to help the woman overwhelmed her. Even though this ambition to climb the mountain went against the Solari's teachings on only the worthy being able to attempt the peregrination to the top, Diana did not back down.  
They climbed for hours, where it became colder, but also more serene, as the stars and moon shone like diamonds.

Eventually they reached the mountaintop, somehow before the sun rose. The summit was overflowing with light, colours and a ghostly city of silver and gold above.

Diana looked to the woman, but saw that she was gone and only her bearskin cloak remained.

As Diana looked into the light, she felt the sense of fulfilment coating her. The emptiness in her soul was drenched in moonlight. A sensation of power also filled her body and it ached. It was eye-opening but also hallucinatory, but when the light faded, the pain ceased and she felt anew.

The new Aspect of the Moon stumbled down the mountain and saw the mouth of a cave that she hadn't noticed on her way up. Inside was a crescent blade that was unlike any other weapon Diana had seen, plus a suit of armour. The armour showed Diana's reflection. She looked into it to see her hair turned pure white and a rune on her forehead: one that she instantly recognised from the book in the library.  
Diana took this opportunity to embrace her destiny. She touched the armour and witnessed images of lives she had never lived, memories she had not experienced and sensations she had never felt before.

As the visions stopped, Diana put on the armour. It was a perfect fit, as though it had been made for her.

She left the cave and rushed to the Solari Temple. Regardless of what they preached, Diana had to tell them about this.  
At the temple, she met Leona – the current leader of the Ra-Horak. Diana was brought into the temple and she told everyone present about her discovery. The elders immediately damned her as a heretic and sentenced her to death.

In a rage at their refusal to see the truth, Diana lashed out with her crescent blade and a silvery fire in her soul. Her fury left no elder alive. When she calmed down, Diana saw the mass murders she had committed and fled to wilds of Mount Targon.

Diana was now a wanted lady by the Ra-Horak. Meanwhile, she sought to recover all the pieces of her visions and assemble them together to find the truth about the Celestials of Sun and Moon. Diana was still young, but unwilling to let go of her destiny.

* * *

It was a relatively peaceful night in the outskirts of Targon when the fate of everyone on Runeterra changed with its unification to Remnant.  
Diana had taken residence in a cottage that was no longer habited by its old family after she had fled from the mountain. They had left all the tools, food, clothes and everything else behind. Diana's guess of where they had gone was as good as anyone else's. Considering how much stuff they hadn't taken though, it was reasonable to assume that they had perished on or been kidnapped on an outing somewhere. Possibly a Bolor.

Diana was restless at night. She was the Aspect of the Moon and naturally felt wide awake when the sun was gone, but she still needed rest and sleep. She scouted Targon for most of her nights, but tonight, she had decided that she was due some time with her eyes closed.  
But tonight was no ordinary night. Targon absorbed most of the earthquakes as the two planets merged together, so Diana did not feel it, but something else lit her alive.

The shattered moon from Remnant appeared almost instantly beside the moon of Runeterra and both of their glows illuminated everything around it brighter than one moon could ever do.  
Diana felt the lunar energy coursing through her veins. She got out of bed and went outside.  
The grassy landscapes were coated in silver and Diana looked up to see the most jaw dropping moment of her life. Her heart pounded and her brain exhilarated. 'Two moons?!' she said out loud.  
She fell to her knees and reached out her hands, praying to the Moon Celestial that she was alright.

What could this mean? Was there a second moon celestial? Could this one be immature and undeveloped? Was it an imposter? Or was her mind playing tricks on her?  
Irrespective of what this was, Diana felt a sense of awe that not even her transformation from mere human to aspect had given her. It was overpowering and Diana could not help but cry. She didn't know if her tears were from praise, shock, fear, betrayal, or a mixture of everything from the emotional spectrum, but they were genuine and wholehearted.

As she sobbed, Diana realised that she began to glow. She was lit up like a nightlight: not too bright, but a beautiful glow. Diana felt like she could fly. She wanted to spread her wings and soar to the moons. Never before had they been so attractive.

'There she is!' yelled a voice from a nearby hillside to the west.

Diana turned around to see the Ra-Horak, with their weapons in hand. Blades were raised and arrows were pointed. At the front of them was Diana's mortal enemy: Leona herself. If it wasn't for the fact that the two moons shone as brightly as they did, they would have been obscured by the darkness.  
The moonlight reflected off Leona's golden armour and she too glowed like a bulb.

'There's that treacherous heretic! Kill her!' Leona ordered. In an instant, she and the rest of the Ra-Horak charged forward towards Diana and roared.

The Aspect of the Moon got to her feet and wiped away her tears. At that very moment, the last thing she wanted to do was show weakness.  
Diana instinctively reached behind her back to grab her crescent blade, but it wasn't there. She had left it in the cottage. Frustrated, Diana fled to the cottage and danced awkwardly as she made her way to the master bedroom, where she had left it.

She grabbed it just as the Ra-Horak reached the cottage. They rammed against the wooden walls and broke through it. Diana dived through the back window and rolled forward as she landed. The cottage crumbled at its foundations. Diana created some distance between her and the wreckage before turning back to confront the Ra-Horak.

Leona pointed her sword at Diana and frowned. 'So this is where you've been hiding all this time, heretic!'

'A heretic for what?! Discovering the truth and wishing to enlighten the Solari?!'

'For spreading pernicious lies and giving your reverence to idols!'

Diana clenched her crescent blade tightly in anger. She fingers pressed so hard that her hand numbed. The anger that she felt on the day the elders hadn't listened to her testimony came back to her, but she remembered the guilt she had felt after she had slaughtered everyone in the temple and held back her anger just enough so that she wouldn't accidentally murder them. Diana was better than the coarse Ra-Horak. 'The evidence is right in front of you, Leona! How do you explain the presence of this second moon if your sun is so holy?!'

Leona stabbed her sword into the ground. She knew that Diana had a point, but she refused to let her lifelong beliefs be vanquished with the click of a finger. She searched for an answer but could not think of anything. 'Brace and thrust!' Leona yelled instead. 'Spill the heretic's blood!'

The archers let go of their strings and let the arrows fly. Diana flung herself out of their trajectory and quickly picked herself up as the brutes came her way.  
Her blade was empowered with the moon. This was the advantage she had – there was no sun for them or Leona.  
She slashed the crescent horizontally and a razor-sharp line of silver light flew from its edge. Its brightness blinded all the nearby Ra-Horak, giving Diana enough time to fly forward and cleave their limbs off. Many of them fell as their legs were severed and others dropped their weapons when their arms were chopped off. Some were strong enough to parry her attacks and back away, but the rest succumbed to her fury.  
No longer was Diana concerned with the blood on her hands. If the Solari refused to see the truth and condemned her to death for it, then they would feel the moon's wrath. They refused to listen to her, so she would refuse to listen to them. As she continued her bloodbath, the blade began to glow even more. It was becoming stronger and deadlier. With every swing she made, Diana felt the effort she put into it become easier and easier.

Outraged, Leona ran headfirst towards Diana. Her armour slowed her down tremendously, but she had the resistances to withstand her blade and moonlight.  
Leona reached behind her back and pulled out a locket. She held it upwards and the Ra-Horak became protected by a shield.

Now Diana's attacks weren't as potent. The shields surrounding the Ra-Horak were derived straight from solar energy and its warmth and intensity made Diana waver.  
Still though, her tenacity persisted and her faith held her up. She slammed her blade into the ground and it ruptured the earth around her enemies. The four that remained were thrown closer towards her and were beaten by three balls of moonlight that orbited around Diana's chest until they were taken down by the moon's power.  
She was just about to swing her blade in a circle to finish them off, but felt stunned as she felt a hot knife go straight through her shoulder.

Leona's Zenith Blade found its mark and pulled her straight towards Diana. She smashed her shield against Diana's head and knocked her to the ground.  
She pulled her sword out from Diana's shoulder and raised it again to stab her through the neck. 'May the Sun never have mercy on you!' said Leona fiercely.

Diana was far from done though. She knew her weapon inside out and knew that its curvature allowed her to strike from unusual angles. She swung her blade around her leg and the tip caught Leona on her left leg. The force made its way through her bone and came out the other side.  
The pain made her scream and she missed Diana entirely as she thrust her sword down, then crumpled to the floor.

Diana tried to pull the blade out of Leona's leg, but it was lodged in and at an awkward angle. Instead, Diana rolled onto Leona and held her on the ground by her throat.  
'Why won't you listen to me, Leona?!' said Diana through gritted teeth as she tightened her grip.

Leona gagged as she tried to pull her Diana's hands away from her. 'I will never let a heretic and a murderer get away with blasphemy!' she struggled to say.

The two of them were even in strength, but Diana was under the effects of the two moons. She would not lose.

As she felt her consciousness fade, Leona knew that she had lost. The Ra-Horak she had led were dead by her underestimation of a moon-soaked lunar aspect.  
From her perspective, the two moons were directly above her, one on either side of Diana's head. Even though it was outrageous to even possess these kind of thoughts among the Solari, Leona was fascinated by the beauty of the two moons. 'F-fine… I'll listen…' Leona gasped and let her arms flop to the side.

Diana maintained her hold on Leona's throat. 'You'll what?' she asked.

'I'll… listen to your preaches on the moons…' said Leona. This was all she managed to say before she became unconscious from asphyxiation.

The Scorn of the Moon let go of the Radiant Dawn and gently pulled the crescent blade out of Leona's leg, now that she was standing upright.  
Diana looked around her and once again saw how many people she had senselessly killed. She felt shameful at her inability to control her rage. This was not how the Lunari were supposed to live their lives.

She bowed before each Ra-Horak she had killed and said a blessing out loud. She then went to the four Ra-Horak that were still alive and said a blessing of forgiveness and finally gave one to Leona.

Diana didn't know if this would be the only opportunity for her to see this second, shattered moon in the sky. She had no idea if it was real, temporary or an illusion, but until Leona and the Ra-Horak woke up or the sun rose – whichever came first – Diana had nothing else she could do but pray, hoping that she would be forgiven and that the Moon Celestial would apprise her on what this new moon actually was.


	18. Open Hearts

**Chapter 18** – Open Hearts

Beacon and the immediate area was now under quarantine and absolutely no one was allowed inside it, not even Atlas Soldiers, Huntsmen or Huntresses. There was no telling how long Aatrox would remain frozen in stasis, so few risks were being taken.  
Winter Schnee spoke on Ironwood's behalf to announce to the public that anyone living or operating within forty miles of Beacon was at risk. She held a broadcast and advised that everyone should evacuate. In fact, everyone who had fought for Beacon – The tutors, Teams RWBY, JNPR, SSSN, FNKI, ABRN, Ryze, Pantheon and Shen – had been the impetus to make the process as smooth as possible.

It was three days later after the battle at Beacon. Once they had all done their job, Goodwitch suggested that they leave, so they took an airship to an uninhabited village to the east. The only people who didn't accompany then were the Atlesian Soldiers, Team FNKY, Port and Oobleck. Atlas had requested that all affiliates return home to do their civic duty of protecting their own Kingdom. Oobleck and Port had volunteered to stay in the vicinity of Beacon, monitoring activity within the area and the state of the School and Aatrox.  
The village was far from luxurious, but every single domestic house was empty, so there was plenty of choice of where to sleep and they were unlikely to be bothered. It would do for the purposes of recuperation. It also gave them a chance to hone their survival skills.

Professor Ozpin, Ironwood, Qrow and Ruby were recovering from their injuries from fighting against Aatrox. Thankfully, they were showing signs of steady recovery.  
In the meantime, Goodwitch was taking responsibility for the students, whilst Ryze, Pantheon and Shen looked after themselves.

A few individuals had taken to scavenging nuts, mushrooms and other fruits and vegetables to provide food for everyone. Pantheon volunteered to hunt for animals. His precision with spears made him perfect for the job.  
Ren had found large lake nearby, so Team JNPR and others were harvesting water in used buckets and bringing them back to the village _(Neptune sincerely declined this job when Sun, Scarlett and Sage offered to help)_. _  
_Then the water was so that it could be boiled, filtered and then drunk.

There was always at least eight people who stood guard at the entrances to their hideout – with two at each of the four openings and doing a session for two hours before swapping with someone else. So far they had been fortunate enough to have not had any Grimm or intruders, but the risk was still there.  
Although to be fair, if anyone who originally lived there came back and found their home under the control of a bunch of Huntsmen and Huntresses, they would have the right to ask them to leave. But considering the state of the village when they arrived, it was a safe assumption that the only people who would find them there would be Grimm, raiders or someone else who was hostile.

On the evening of the third day, Team ABRN and Team CFVY were standing guard. Everyone else was gathered in the town centre and they had all brought chairs from the abandoned houses to sit on in a circle. It was time for a discussion to begin. The tutors, including Ozpin, Ironwood and Qrow were sitting together. Team RWBY were to the left of them, followed by Team JNPR, Team SSSN, Ryze, Shen and Pantheon.

'Thank you all for coming.' said Goodwitch. 'I appreciate all your cooperation as we managed to evacuate the citizens in the City of Vale. You have all been excellent and even though Beacon Academy has fallen, we have made the most of the situation as we possibly could. If anything happens and we're needed over there, it's just a short flight back to the city.'

'We're just doing our duty as Huntsmen and Huntresses.' said Ruby.

'Still though, we as teachers didn't necessarily imagine that you would do as much as you did. All of you students exceeded our expectations and therefore we are exceptionally proud of you. Give yourselves a pat on the back.'  
And they all did.  
'But in additional to everything that you students have done for us, we must give a special thanks to three brave individuals who aided us when we most needed it.'

Everyone's eyes turned towards Ryze, Shen and Pantheon. Ryze looked rather uncomfortable, whilst Shen and Pantheon seemed to be rather indifferent.

Pyrrha stood up and cleared her throat. 'I want to thank Shen personally in front of everyone here. He saved my life. If it wasn't for him, I would be dead for sure.' She turned her head and smiled warmheartedly at him as a few tears of gratitude trickled down her cheeks.  
Because he could not smile beneath his mask, Shen waved his hand. 'Please do not overpraise me.' he replied modestly.

'Saving the life of a wonderful person can _never_ be praised enough.' said Jaune vigorously.

Shen nodded, knowing that there was no harm in these two teenagers recognising virtues.

Next it was Blake's turn to stand up. 'I too want to vocalise my appreciation for Atreus.' she declared. 'My life was also spared because he saved me from…' she gulped as the image of Adam and his sadistic grin entered her head again. She searched for the correct word to describe him, settling on "assailant." '….my assailant.'

Sun's eyes goggled. He had no idea that Blake had been under attack.

'It truly was nothing, but I will willingly accept your gratitude. Let us hope that he's learned his lesson and will not attack others without reason.' said Pantheon with his oddly soothing voice.

'But most of all, we should be thankful to the man that saved all of us from being crushed by Aatrox.' said Ren. Now all eyes turned towards the archmage.

'Absolutely.' said Weiss and everyone else nodded in agreement.

'May we ask what your name is?' Ozpin asked, conscious of his irritability.

'Ryze.' he answered plainly.

'Thank you Ryze.' said Ozpin. 'I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say that I cannot thank you enough for saving my students.'

'You sincerities won't go unnoticed headmaster, but I'm afraid that I don't have time to stay around for much longer. I am on a mission that has no end in sight and I must get back on the trail.'

'Perhaps we can help you.' said Ruby.

Ryze looked at Ruby and gave her a faint smile. It was almost non-existent, but Ruby still managed to detect it. 'I seldom encounter kindness.' he said. 'And I've come to appreciate people who show magnanimity to take the burden off my shoulders, but I work alone. If I sound rude, it's because my quest is something that only I can endeavour to ever finish, and I have been trying to complete it for over one thousand years.'

A moment of silence followed as the information that Ryze was over a millennium old sank in.

'What is your mission then?' Ironwood asked.

'I can't tell you that.' said Ryze. 'If I did, then I would be putting this world in danger too, as well as my own.'

'Ahh, I was just about to move on to that…' said Goodwitch. 'This whole issue with "another world". What is it all about? If you don't mind me asking, where are you three from? Do you know each other?'

'So you've noticed that our worlds have become one.' said Shen. 'To answer your last question, we don't know each other, but I think we come from the same world.' he turned his head towards Ryze and Pantheon. 'Runeterra?'  
They both nodded.

'Very well then.' said Shen. 'The planet we come from is called "Runeterra". There are many different regions and they all have their own form of government and way of life. Some have strong ties with one another, whilst others are isolated and keep to themselves. I myself come from a minor continent known as "Ionia", where the practice of magic, spiritualism and harmony in nature is the key to a good life. I don't know much about the other regions, since Ionia is so isolated away from everywhere else. There isn't much that needs to be said about it. How about your world?'

'We call our planet "Remnant".' said Ozpin. 'Our political system is centred on unity with all of the other Kingdoms. We're currently in the Kingdom of Vale and have fantastic ties with the other three. We had a great war between us, but a peace treaty was eventually established and we've been in a time of relative peace ever since; although it seems like the peace we've been having will be cut off shortly.'

'I wish I could say the same about Runeterra.' said Ryze. 'In the centuries that I've lived through, I can't remember many times when the regions of Runeterra were on good terms with each other. A lot of them even have had or are still going through major internal conflicts and civil wars.'

Ozpin wanted to say that he knew exactly how Ryze felt and give him reassuring words. He himself had lived for thousands of years and had been in constant conflict with an enduring foe in an eternal struggle. However Ozpin also knew that optimism after a millennium was unlikely to mean anything to Ryze, and Ozpin himself felt the same way. Plus, he didn't want to tell his students about his dreaded secret. Now was not the time to divulge something so significant and dangerous just yet.

Still though, Ozpin was naturally curious to learn more about these three intriguing characters and was just about to ask, but before he could ask anything, Pantheon spoke.

'I must say that I am interested in these young warriors. What is your name, grand tutor?'

'I am Ozpin.'

'Please Ozpin, tell about these precocious warriors. They seem to have been trained in the art of war. This is a standard for where I'm from as well, but these kids are exceptionally young. How do you mould them into soldiers so quickly?'

'In Remnant, Atreus, there are various schools and establishments located across the four Kingdoms, which are dedicated to train young boys and girls into Huntsmen and Huntresses. Beacon Academy is my school – or "was" is probably more accurate now. I want to make it clear that children are not forced to do this. Becoming a Huntsman or Huntress is a completely voluntary choice. If you wish to go to a regular educational school, then you can. You can even choose to join a traditional military programme if you so wish, but becoming a Huntsman or Huntress requires a different type of determination. In Huntsman Academies, you are trained to reach the peak of athleticism; how to recognise and respond to threats; how to fight and slay monsters, but most importantly how to be the best person you possibly can.'

'Very fascinating. I would dream for a system like that in my world! It's similar, but these academies seem to be not as harsh as the brutal conditions we go through on Mount Targon…'

'Well becoming a Huntsman is no walk in the park, Atreus.' said Qrow, taking a swig from his flask. 'These kids may appear to be stupendous at first, but until you compare them to professional Huntsmen who have spent years in the field and not in school, you realise that they have ways to go. Learning to become one is like trying to learn a new language. It's a lifetime of studying that never ends until you retire or until you die.'

'Forgive me. I'm not saying that that isn't the case here. I'm just curious how the way of the warrior is taught here compared to how it is taught back at home.'

'I wouldn't like to say for sure. No one here has experienced both world's lifestyles, so we cannot make assumptions.' said Ozpin with his usual sagacious voice. 'But... speaking of another world, I would actually like to ask something of you three.' he said, addressing the three guests. 'I, along with others who are gathered here would like to know more about who you are and why you came to Remnant.'

Ryze shuffled awkwardly in his seat, feeling on edge once again, whilst Shen and Pantheon felt ambivalent to the question.

It was Pantheon who spoke first. 'My story is one that is hard to believe for many people – especially if you are a sceptic of magic and celestials, but I speak with as much heart and honesty as I can when I say that it is real. Although my actual memories of it are slim, I still remember some parts of it. I was born as "Atreus" into a warlike group on Mount Targon. Without going too deep it into, Mount Targon is an _enormous_ mountain that holds many legends and tales of gods and celestials. Most civilisations in the region live at the base and the people are usually heavy believers in more than just the material universe. It was here that I was brought up with battle in my veins, and shield and spear in my hands. During my youth, I was paired up with another boy called Pylas. I many ways, he was a greater soldier than me, but he was still impressed by how I could keep up with him, and thus we formed a brilliant brotherhood.  
'And as we started looking out for each other's back, we decided that we wanted to take on the seemingly impossible challenge of climbing Mount Targon itself. Now I don't know if I could illustrate well enough what Mount Targon is actually like, but let me tell you that hurdling over it is a feat that only a few people in history have overcome. So Pylas and I attempted the climb. We eventually reached the top after climbing for weeks. Unfortunately…' Pantheon paused as he reminisced his good friend. 'Pylas died from exhaustion and the cold shortly afterwards. I remember his last shiver before that dreadful moment... But as he passed away, the gates of heaven opened up. Describing how it happened is difficult, but I was granted the "Aspect of War" by the gods. My body of flesh and blood was no longer hosted by mortality. It was under control by the god to persue its own selfish ends. I became the "Pantheon", yet I was barely aware of what it made me do; I only have a cloudy recollection of what happened during that time. But an unforgettable battle is secured in my memories. I was brought face-to-face with Aatrox.'

'You mean, the thing at Beacon that none of us could take down?!' Nora asked in bewilderment.

'Exactly that which you saw. We fought in a duel that shook the heavens itself, with his blade and my spear and shield in hand. Fate decided though that the god was destined to lose. This scar across my chest is where Aatrox defeated me. He left me to die, but as the Aspect of War faded and the god died, the man that I am, returned and reclaimed my body. I returned home and recovered over time. During that period though, I realised that my worship had been misplaced. I had been looking up to the stars all my life, but now I realise that they are self-centred with no respect for those who live on the rocks and the soil of the earth. Eventually, I was able to pick up my spear again, and encountered Aatrox for a second time, invading my home. I also realised then that the Darkin, who are feared by many, are no worse than Aspects. I looked at Aatrox, one of the most formidable Darkin in history, and fought him again. His own arrogance was his weak-point though. I severed his sword arm with my spear and he fled. Although his arm has since grown back, he should feel the humiliation of defeat, because he had been bested not by a god, but by a man.  
'If truth speaks, I wish to live a life of simple peace - as a baker - but I continue to fight because there are still Aspects, Darkin and other demons who wield power too great for them, and use it for destruction and evil. They must be stopped, and I shall do it, by willpower alone.'

'That is certainly a fascinating tale you have there, Atreus.' said Ozpin. 'But why have you come to Remnant and how _did_ you get here, for that matter?'

'When our worlds merged, I could feel the heavens shaking. Something was amiss and I leaped into the sky to see what I could find. Above high and I caught a glimpse of your world. Taking a brief look at the area surrounding your school, I thought that would be a good place to start. I arrived in the courtyard and immediately set my eyes on the coward that attacked Blake. That is how I got here.'

'Very interesting indeed.' said Ozpin. 'Thank you for sharing that with us. How about you two?' he said to Shen and Ryze.

Ryze clearly wasn't going to speak without being directly prompted, so Shen spoke next. 'I was born and grew up in a Monastery which housed the "Kinkou Order". My Father was its master and a great teacher in Ionian nature, stargazing and martial arts. Under his wing, along with my once great friend Zed, we became exemplary students and we were equipped to face the real world. But I did not foresee how bitter the real world actually is… I have been on many dangerous missions outside of the Monastery – many of which were exceptionally arduous – but even when I meditate, there are three awfully painful memories which plague my head relentlessly…' Shen clutched his head, trying his best to suppress his emotions.

'Please do not feel pressured into sharing them if you don't want to.' said Ozpin.

'It's fine. I can go on. The first is the mere thought of a man that will make your skin crawl indefinitely. I don't know his real name, but "Khada Jhin" is the alias of a psychotic murderer, whom Zed and I were tasked with capturing. It took us so much evidence and clue tracking along with so many dead mutilated bodies to finally catch him. He should have been executed, but my Father instead decided that he should be imprisoned instead.  
'The second is of the infamous invasion of Ionia by Noxus – an extremely imperialistic nation. Ionia fought back the best they could and the Noxians were eventually driven out, but the loss of life and spillage of blood on both sides was immense. And at the same time, Jhin was released from prison to fight against the Noxians. The Kinkou were adamant that we remain impartial keepers of peace and not let emotions force us to fight and I stayed like a coward inside the temple. Meanwhile Zed went to fight for Ionia and I only came out when the battle was closer to our victory and tried to keep the spiritual morale high.  
'But it was at this point when I felt a disturbance on the Kinkou order. This is my third unbearably painful memory… I rushed back to find the Monastery in ruins and worst of all… my Father was dead… by Zed's hands…'

The circle heard this and they silently gave their condolences. Only Ozpin made a comment. 'My goodness Shen. I'm sorry to hear that.'

'This all happened nine years ago…' said Shen with as little emotion as he could. 'Zed discovered a forbidden art of shadows. He rejected the teaching of harmony and balance in judgement of all things. Then he went to the Monastery, refused to listen to my Father's pleas and killed him… But that is the past. I went on to become the new master of the Kinkou Order and adopted the title of "Eye of Twilight". Since that day I have taught a lot of protégés and potential students, but two have stuck in my mind more than anyone else. One of which is still a student of mine: Kennen. I left him along with other members of the Order to keep the Monastery in check whilst I am away from Ionia.  
'My other notable student… was more impetuous. Her name is Akali Jhomen Tethi. She's the daughter of my Father's greatest ally, and we all assumed she would inherit her place by my side. But alas, she too renounced the teachings of the Order and went rogue. I have no idea where she went after leaving the Monastery for good, but I can only hope that her brashness hasn't gotten her into trouble.'  
Shen clenched his fists tightly. Although no one could see his face through his mask, they could tell that he was straining to keep his feelings intact.

'It's… fine…' he said. 'I don't resent Zed for murdering my Father. I have come to accept that the world will never fully be in balance and that bad things will happen. Striving for perfection is an impossibility, but I will do my best to keep harmony between the natural and spiritual world flowing.'

Everyone let Shen breathe. Then Ozpin asked how he had come to Remnant.

'I shall spare the details for the sakes of brevity, Ozpin, but I'll explain as best as I can in a concise way. I do not live entirely in either the physical or spiritual realm. In can see into both and distinguish differences between their states of existence. Although not entirely obvious, both of these worlds are parallel and have influence over each other. I have taken on the role of mediating between the two. With experience inside of them, I have been versed in the metaphysical rules of both, but some of these rules are transferable to the other realm. For instance, I can fight in the physical realm with assistance from the spiritual one, therefore enhancing my offensive abilities when using swords – the same is applicable to defensive elements and the laws of motion. With my body being the way it is, I am not limited by the laws earth holds when moving in the physical world. I can travel in the blink of the eye: instantly teleporting to wherever I want to be. This does require mental concentration and energy from both the physical and spiritual realm to be able to go across the world like this, but I can cover short distances much faster at light speed frequently in combat and long distances with enough setup. Usually it helps if I focus on a specific point. For instance, if I think of a person, I can transfer some of my spiritual energy into them, giving me a direct gateway to a new location. This is a practice I did in the Kinkou order to save allies in emergency situations. It grants them a shield and gives them enough extra protection before I show up by their side.'

'This is… exactly what you did to save me?' Pyrrha surmised.

'Exactly.'

Everyone from Remnant was in a state of awe. Jaune and Nora literally had their jaws dropped; Ruby's eyes were wide open; every external reaction was priceless. Even those who did not show any signs on the outside were certainly doing so internally.

'And why did you come to Remnant, may I ask Shen?' Goodwitch asked.

'For me it was obvious that a disturbance in the spiritual and physical world had occurred. Whilst I wasn't entirely sure what happened, the sheer size of the imbalance told me that something potentially huge was awry. I took trips over a few miles and eventually found myself near the school, because it was there that I sensed the most disturbance.'

'Thank you Shen.' said Ozpin. 'And how about you, Ryze? Would you be willing to tell us more about yourself?'

Ryze was knew that there were expectations for him to say something, now that Pantheon and Shen had spoken. He was an alien in Remnant, just like the other two, so it was only appropriate that he gave some explanation of who he was and what his mission entailed.  
 _'But these are complete strangers to me. I have no idea if I can trust them at all. Saying anything about me could put me in jeopardy.'_  
Ryze considered making up a story that was more innocent sounding than his true one. But then again, his appearance and the scroll on his back would belie it. Plus, Shen and Pantheon might already have a good idea of what he was like and could probably detect any lies that he made.

Although hesitant and reluctant, Ryze said a little bit about his background. 'Alright. I wasn't lying when I said that I'm over one thousand years old. It's been so long that I don't remember where I was born. When I was young, I had a master called Tyrus. He once told me about magic and how it can be… harnessed.' he said, being exceptionally careful of his word choice. 'Although not exactly tangible, magic can be stored in a vessel of sorts. My master was committed to the task of scavenging these magical vessels and keeping them out of the possession and knowledge of people. When you have such potent arcane power, it's easy to use it for evil or wrong, so Tyrus and I made it our mission to collect as many of these vessels as we could to prevent magic from being used as a tool of destruction. It's an ongoing mission that has prevented me from dying of old age. Magic has altered my body so that _it_ is now a vessel of its own. I can produce magic with my own hands as an offensive weapon and a defensive shield.'

'It is the Runes and the Runes which you speak of, is it not?' said Pantheon.

Ryze glared at him. 'Damn you! That is not an appropriate subject to talk about here! How do you know about runes anyway?!'

'It's literally written all over you, Ryze. You are tattooed with runes, and as a Targonian, what you said was not subtle at all. We are educated about the long history of Runeterra, Ryze. That includes the Rune Wars. Perhaps they don't do so in other regions like Demacia and Piltover, but in Targon, we most certainly are.'

Completely thrown off, Ryze struggled to find words. 'Yes...' he said, addressing everyone else once again. 'I am a product of a series of magical wars that went on for centuries. Runes were attractive because of the power they provided for their wielders. Groups of people, ranging from villages to entire kingdoms sought power and the eradication of foes. The wars are over, thank goodness, but the runes still exist and the threat of war is still there, and I've seen what they can do. Entire landscapes and mountains can be blown up in a second; entire civilisations can be obliterated with just one rune. So long as these runes are up for grabs from lustful, misguided people, I will not rest. Every rune I collect is another day that we all live.'

Silence filled the circle once more. The extent of Ryze's hardship was difficult to comprehend, and he had omitted some of the worse bits as well.

'What happened to your old master?' asked Blake nervously.

Ryze gritted his teeth, and just said it frankly. 'I killed him.'  
Every time Ryze spoke, it was like it took ages for everyone to catch up with what he was saying.

'It was he who advocated that the runes should be scavenged and kept from human knowledge, but as we became more and more desperate, he began to compromise his principles as the allure of the runes tempted him. He said that we could fight fire with fire: use the runes as weapons and take the lives of those who would not hand over the runes. Tyrus was the shell of the man I once knew… I didn't want to do it… but it was necessary. He was corrupted and would have surely unleashed devastation on innocent lives.  
'Ever since then, I have attempted to make friends with various people, and I've even had companions and protégés of my own. But almost all of them have went to the dark side. I had an acquaintance called Yago. He kept a rune in his home and I did my best to persuade him to surrender it, but he refused to listen. I paid him a visit in good spirits, and left with the rune and Yago dead. He attempted to kill me after my reasoning failed to get into his thick skull, and I've had to do this so many times to people who I thought would become a true friend whom I could trust.'

Ten seconds of no one speaking and heavy breathing passed before Ryze continued. 'I don't kill because I like it. Every time a different soul is eviscerated from its body and new blood is on my hands, I feel physically sick. I can't sleep at night when I know that someone is no longer alive because of my own doing. Don't think for a second that I murder without giving it a second thought. Don't think that I'm hardened to the idea of using a person's life as a means to an end, because I'm not.'

'I don't think anything less of you for having to do what you think is ultimately right.' said Blake.

'Hmm?' Ryze grunted.

'All authority should be questioned and challenged. I don't know anything about these runes, but if they're a threat to your world then it's admirable of you to dedicate your life to finding them so that no one can use it for evil. Sometimes sacrifices and what are usually immoral actions have to be made in order to do what you think is right. Killing where it is not necessary is not right, but from the sounds of it, you're not a murderer Ryze: you're a saviour of the world.'

'I wouldn't call myself a "saviour" until I've actually completed my mission…'

'But it's the fact that you're taking action that counts.' said Ren. 'Even if you don't ever get the results you are looking for, you should rest easy, knowing that you did your part.'

Ryze wasn't sure how to respond. He figured that these kids knew very little about how harsh the real world was; they were still very young. However he also guessed that Ren hadn't said that to mean he should give up, so he simply said: 'I know.'

'Thank you Ryze.' said Ozpin. 'We all greatly appreciate that you shared your story with us. But may I also ask why you came to Remnant?'

'I can use arcane power to create a portal to get from one place to another. When our worlds merged, I felt the presence of exceptionally powerful energy coming from certain places across the planet. It might sound silly to think that a rune would be on an entirely different planet, but I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't something there. The sensation came from your school. I can't tell exactly where, but when I was in the courtyard, it felt very prominent.'

'Well, I can assure you that no exceptionally powerful object like the runes you're describing is stored at Beacon.' Ozpin lied with a smile. He didn't think Ryze needed to know about the Relic.

'That's good to know.' Ryze stood up. 'It's been great to have a lovely chat, but I think it's time I go back to Runeterra.'

'Ryze, you've clearly shown us that you have a seemingly insuperable duty to complete. Perhaps it feels like it to you because it's been this way for one thousand years, but the responsibility of an entire planet can't be put on the shoulders of just one man.' said Ozpin.

'Ozpin, let me reinstate this, I've discovered over _years_ that having companions on my mission proves only to be a hindrance. I'm sure you all have good intentions, but it makes no difference. None of you will live long enough to see the mission through to the end, I can guarantee that. If this is the case, you should concern yourself with Remnant's affairs and not the ones from Runeterra. Secondly, I know these runes and how they affect people's minds. My old master and countless numbers of people I knew crippled before their desire to use the runes for themselves. I can't remember the names of most of them, but one of my pupils burns me from the inside when I recall our time together, up until the day he lost it.  
'Kegan Rodhe. I'll never forget that name… he was a broken boy, one that had been mistreated all of his life. When I found him, I pitied his soul and let him come with me. But it turned out that he was impatient. He wanted to know how magic worked, because his mother could perform magic, but he couldn't.  
'We went searching for runes, and one day we found one imbued with flames. I told him just to collect it, but he was overcome with the temptation to take it for himself. As he absorbed its power, he was burned alive, yet he didn't die. The rune and its magic merged with Kegan's body. He became a being composed of nothing but fire and hatred…  
'Now I'm not saying that you're all like Kegan, but I can't bare the idea of having to put down another person because they fall into the runes' inescapable grasp.'

'But we won't fall into that trap.' said Ruby. 'It seems like everyone here has a common interest of doing good for the world. Our worlds have joined, so now we all must look out and be aware of each other. Ryze, you're not the only one who wants to see peace. We all do.'

'And let me point out Ryze,' said Ozpin. 'that Huntsmen and Huntresses are trained specifically to heighten their social awareness and moral code. Like I said earlier: it's not just about fighting for the sakes of fighting. Magic may not be our speciality, but someone as perspicacious in runic magic as you can give us directions if we did help you.'

'Please listen to reason, Ryze.' said Shen. 'You've probably seen more horrors and unbearable moments than all of us combined, and have years of experience that we most likely will never have, but it is clear that your emotions are clouding your judgement. Tiredness and fatigue from centuries of hard work have made you think that only you can save Runeterra, but that simply isn't true.'

'Even if you reject our help, Ryze, it's getting late now. You might as well stay in this village until morning comes at least.' said Qrow.

Ryze wanted to argue his way out, but tried to acknowledge that they were genuinely trying to be helpful. 'Fine… but I want to check who here is _actually_ interesting in helping me find the runes?'

To his surprise, every student raised their hands.

'You're kidding me? All of you serious want to concern yourselves with my affairs?'

'Well… when we discovered that there was a new world, a lot of us _kinda_ wanted to go and see it.' said Yang. 'As Huntsmen and Huntresses, we're natural thrill seekers and like going on new adventures.'

'Yeah! I've always wanted to go abroad and wrestle fire demons!' said Nora.

Ryze sighed. 'Fine…'

'Perhaps it would be best to make a decision tomorrow.' said Ozpin. 'It would be good to know how Team CFVY and Team ABRN think about this.'

'I agree.' said Ironwood. 'And if it was worth it, I could lend some aid by providing you with airships and armaments. You could set up a post there and that'll allow for you to travel between Remnant and Runeterra by air and allow for equipment and supplies to be transferred between the two planets as well.'

'As long as it's not _on_ the water, I'm cool.' said Neptune.

It seemed like the meeting was at its end. Everyone started to move.

'Alright students, think through what these three men have shared with us today.' said Goodwitch. 'If this preliminary idea goes any further, we'll discuss it more tomorrow. In the meantime though, please think carefully about whether or not you're committed enough to go to an entirely new planet and help in another potentially perilous mission.'

'What about you two?' Ironwood said to Shen and Pantheon.

'I have no other imminent commitments.' said Pantheon. 'I shall stand guard tonight. However I think I would be more useful back at the school. Surely that area needs to be safeguarded rather well. Once the morning comes, I'll set off.'

'Very well, and what about you Shen?'

'The Kinkou can live without me for the time being, so I'll stay and possibly accompany these kids to Runeterra. If you're going there, you need as many people as you can who are familiar with its land.

General Ironwood gave a nod of approval and shook Shen's hand. 'Thank you.'

* * *

'What do you see, Barty?!' shouted Port, who was standing at the base of a tall tree. Oobleck was crouching on a branch near the top that was strong enough to hold his weight.

'There are no Grimm in sight, Peter! There isn't any activity for that matter!'  
Oobleck was looking through a pair of binoculars at the grounds of Beacon Academy. The wreckage and Aatrox were still golden and unflinching.

'At what point do you think it best for someone to go a bit closer and inspect that giant thing?!'

'Soon Peter! There's no telling when the spell keeping it there will break!'  
The words were taken right out of his mouth. 'Wait! Something's happening!'

The golden coating was dimming in brightness. It flickered and flickered… and then it disappeared entirely. The spell was broken.

A clamorous roar filled the air with thunder and the ground shook.  
Oobleck fell out of the tree and landed on top of Port, who was stunned by roar and didn't move out of the way.

' _AT LAST, I AM FREE!_ '

' _NOTHING CAN KILL ME!_ '

' _NOTHING WILL STOP ME FROM DESTROYING THIS WORLD!_ '

Aatrox was unbound.


	19. Insanity in the Smog

**Chapter 19** – Insanity in the Smog

Spinning out of control, disoriented and overcome with dizziness, Tyrian felt his life swirl around him in colours of orange, pink and purple. Dizziness and moving rapidly in circles was something he was used to, but not at this level. He wasn't sure how long he had been in this state. Was it a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a year? Tyrian could not tell. All he knew was that he wanted it to end…

Tyrian then fell out of the portal and landed flat on his chest. Now that he had come to a stop and was no longer moving, he let lose the vomit that had built up inside his mouth. For ten seconds straight he threw up until he had created a large puddle of sickly brown on the floor in front of him. 'I am sick…' he muttered. 'Very, very sick.'  
Unable to get up off the ground for more than seven minutes, Tyrian lay where he was with his eyes closed.  
Eventually he managed to pick himself up and was able to finally take a look at his surroundings. It was nowhere he recognised at all. He was in an alleyway at a dead-end. The ground was made of uneven stone and the walls around him were a murky grey. The sky above him was dark and barely any sunlight made its way through the black clouds. 'Where am I? Where am I?!' he said out loud. 'It doesn't look familiar at all, no it certainly doesn't.'  
Tyrian felt uneasy for the first time in absolutely ages; this place gave him the creeps and that was saying a heck of a lot. He was cautious as he limped to the exit of the alleyway. He was slowly recovering from his trip through the portal. He still felt a bit queasy but no longer vulnerable to an ambush.

Voices came from the streets outside. Tyrian ducked behind a set of dustbins. A bunch of kids – four of them – entered the alleyway and made a beeline towards a dumpster below a ladder that was a few metres in front of the bins where Tyrian was hiding.  
'They must've gone on top of the roofs again.' said a dark-skinned boy with a white mohawk and a strange rod in his hand. He seemed to be the one leading the group.

'But Ekko, why would they have come this way?' asked the boy immediately behind Ekko.

'Don't you remember Rix, they always go see Mama Elodie perform at Babette's Theatre whenever they get the chance.'

Rix pondered Ekko's answer for a few seconds. 'Oh yeah. I remember now.'

'Wait, Mama Elodie you say?' said another boy. 'As in, that lady who's in charge of Hope House?'

'That's the one.' Ekko confirmed.

'Why would they go and watch _her_?' the fourth boy commented. 'She's gone and they choose to spend them unsupervised time chasing after the person that usually supervises them?'

'I hear that she's a good singer.' said Ekko.

'I bet they have secretly like her.' Rix sniggered.

'Well she is kinda hot.' said the third boy, called Tark. 'Especially when she dresses up and puts on makeup for the performance.'

'Oh come off of it.' snorted the fourth boy. 'She's only good looking if you're into middle-aged women. There are plenty of girls our age who're hot.'

'And have you got your eye on anyone in particular, Nint?' Rix asked.

Nint stummered. 'Yeah… I guess…'

'Who is it? Tell us.' Tark urged.

' _Sigh_ , K-Kez.'

'Kez! Oh my goodness Nint, Kez! Why didn't you tell us sooner?! We could've hooked you up!'

'I-it doesn't matter. It's not like I'm head-over-heels for her: she just pretty. Besides, she's with Wyn now.'

'Guys, focus.' said Ekko, bringing the conversation to an end. 'Think about your love lives some other time. We've got some rats to catch.'

'Why would they steal from us?' Rix asked. 'We're all part of the Lost Children of Zaun.'

'Probably because they want to buy refreshments if they manage to sneak in again.' Ekko sighed. 'As far as I'm concerned, the Lost Children of Zaun don't steal from each other. We're all in this together. They've broken a pact and I'm mad.'

'Which one of them stole from you?' Nint asked.

'It was Janke. It's always him of course. Now let's go and get them!' Ekko said and began to climb the ladder.

Tyrian's curiosity was growing and his confidence returning. He could no longer remain silent. ' _Ahem_ , hello there boys!' he said with a forced, sophisticated tone and stood up.

Ekko and his gang were startled as Tyrian revealed himself so suddenly. Ekko jumped down from the ladder onto the dumpster and held his rod in a defensive position. 'Who are you?!' he demanded.

The unmistakable grin of Tyrian's madness made its way onto his face. His eyes and mouth widened. 'Me?' he said, pointing to his chest. 'Who I am matters not to you.'

'Then what do you want?' said Rix, raising his fists.

'I only need an answer to a very simple question. You see, young boys, I am a grown man, yet I am embarrassed to admit that have somehow found myself lost with no idea of the whereabouts I may be. So then, what is the name of this place?'

Ekko's gang's looked at each other, wondering if this creepy stranger was just feigning ignorance. 'Umm, Zaun?' said Ekko. 'Is that the answer you're looking for?'

'It depends if you're telling me the truth or not.' Tyrian replied. He strutted his way closer to the boys.

'Back off!' Ekko warned. 'Come too close and you'll regret it.'

'Why, how rude of you.' said Tyrian. 'I am merely exchanging courtesies with you boys, and you're telling me to shoo? I mean no harm at all.'

'How can you possibly not know where you are?' asked Tark. 'There's no other entrance to this alleyway other than the one we just came through. Did you wind up here because you were drunk?'

'Absolutely, positively not!' Tyrian replied with exaggerated outrage. 'I can assure you that I am not lying. My story is one that you're not likely to believe, but you must at least take my word for it that I really do have _no_ idea where I am. Tell me more about "Zaun" then.'

'It's a city, that's really dirty… and that's about it.' said Ekko.

'Hmm, Zaun. The name doesn't ring a bell.'

'Where are _you_ from then? Piltover, Noxus or somewhere else?' asked Nint.

Tyrian stroked his chin and pivoted in a circle, observing the alleyway more closely. The only added detail he noticed was trash on the floor, which for some reason had not made it to the bins. 'I've heard of none of those places either. Are you sure that you're not just making up names?'

'I'm sure of it.' Nint replied.

Tyrian turned around and thought to himself. 'No, it can't be, can it? Did that brat transport me to the new world?!'  
He returned his attention to Ekko's gang. 'Thank you very much boys! You have been ever so helpful to me and I wish you the best of luck with your search for those that wronged you so.'

Ekko glared. 'Were you listening to us this whole time?!'

' _Maybe_ I did just a tad, but worry not, for your business is not any of mine. I have no reason to tell anyone else about it.'  
Tyrian walked past them. 'Farewell boys!' he saluted before breaking into a scamper and left the alleyway, all the while giggled maniacally.

Ekko and his gangs' skin crawled as they hear his laughter reverberating off the walls.

* * *

The streets of Zaun were infested with grime and sludge. It was as though the city itself was a living and breathing mutant, composed of the residue of too much factory work and experiments gone wrong. This was true to a certain extent though. Zaun's industry went by nothing but technology and influences from Piltover, minus the safety checks. No matter where you went in Zaun, it was polluted with carbon dioxide and other gases. Rivers and streams were oversaturated with disposed chemicals and toxic substances. Life expectancy in Zaun was significantly lower than in other states in Runeterra. Falling ill to the smog was as commonplace as weapons in Noxus.  
One of the most well-known and truly tragic cases of this happening was the daughter of Corin Reveck, one of the most respected inventors in Piltover. His daughter succumbed to Zaun's toxic grasp as she removed her filtration mask to help a suffocating child she found on a visit to the city. Orianna Reveck's body became terminally poisoned and her father resorted to extreme measures to keep her alive: by replacing all of her body parts with automated replicas and prosthetics as her lungs and flesh deteriorated. By the end of her human life, Orianna was nothing more than a machine of clockwork.  
Whilst this is a rather extreme case, it is still testimony to Zaun's horrific environment. The oligarchy of Zaun and its chem-baron rulers cared little for the health and wellbeing of their citizens, just so long as they could line their own pockets with money from the black market and immoral industry practices.

As Tyrian explored Zaun at its street level he noticed the amount of waste scattered all over the place: used plastic bags and wrappers, out-of-date food, failed machinery and metallic components. Green slime grew across it and reeked. Even for Tyrian, this was absolutely disgusting. 'It makes me want to vomit again!' he said out loud next to a tool shop. A few browsers and merchants gave him a funny look.

He pressed on until he found the backstreets. Stalls were set up, selling various goods and commodities. Tyrian however was interested in sustaining himself, so long as he was away from Salem, and turned his attention to the food stalls.  
As he approached a merchant selling fruit, he eyed the apples and picked one up from a box in front of the counter to examine it. The specimen was on the verge of rotting. Its red shine was now dark with a hue of brown in it.  
'Hey, no touching unless you're buying!' said the merchant angrily.

Tyrian gently put the apple down. 'I'm sorry.' he said. 'It has been too long since I've had anything to eat and I just wanted to inspect your _*cough, cough_ *, lovely fruits.'  
All of the apples were no longer ripe; the same was true of all other merchants selling fruit and vegetables, but this was the best you could get in such an inorganic setting.

'If you've got the payment for it, the grub's yours.' replied the merchant.

'How much do each of them cost?

'Four silver coins for each apple, three for oranges and seven for melons.'

Of course, Tyrian was not familiar with the currency at all, nor did he have any money to begin with. He chortled before he spoke again. 'Surely you have enough common-sense to realise that those numbers are highly outrageous for fruit that's so… poorly grown.'

The merchant slammed his fist onto the table. 'How dare you say such a thing about my stock!' he barked. 'I'm a hardworking man and you have the nerve to manhandle my food and then criticise me about its quality! Get out of my sight, now!'  
All the other sellers of food stared in their direction, wondering what exchanges were going on between the two of them.

Tyrian smiled. 'Oh dear me, the peasant has sour spots. It would be a shame if someone were to ruin all the "fruits of your labours" so carelessly.' He picked up an apple and took a bit out of it.

The merchant exploded. 'You little rat!' he yelled and vaulted over the table in front of him. Tyrian jumped aside and threw the apple in the merchant's face, causing him to lose his balance and land in the box of apples.

Tyrian erupted in laughter and spat out his mouthful of apple onto the floor. All of the surrounding stalls fell quiet.  
The apples were squashed under the merchant's weight, since they had gone soft.  
'Hahaha! Ironic! The farmer undoes his own work! I suggest you be more careful next time!'

The merchant wiped the apple off of his face. 'You're gonna pay for this!' he screamed. 'Everyone, get him!'

In an instant, the other salesmen left their posts, brandishing sharp knives and electrical batons. The commotion became dishevelled and they all glared at the insolent man who stood before them. Meanwhile the customers had vanished and Tyrian was overcome with exhilaration. 'Oh, this is getting _exciting_!' he said, now showing off to his audience.

'You think you can just walk into this market and do whatever you want?!' shouted a salesman of imported fish.  
'Yeah! Go back to the Sump where you belong!' yelled a merchant of alcohol.  
There were fifteen of them in total, all shouting their disapproval.

'Well, I think we've had enough talk!' said Tyrian. 'Now let's dance!'  
He brought out his wrist blades and in an instant went for the nearest salesman. The poor man had never seen someone as fast and volatile as Tyrian.  
He pounced onto him and gashed his face. The man cried out in pain, squirming on the floor and clutching the cut through his cheek.

Tyrian turned around to confront the others. His eyes were wide again – the look of unfiltered instability that was synonymous with him. 'Alright, who's next?!'

'Don't just stand there! Rush him down!' said a merchant of cogs and parts for machinery. Although they hesitated at first, they charged at Tyrian, hoping to overwhelm him. They had no idea what they were dealing with…

Tyrian deflected the feeble strikes of the merchants with batons. He managed to disarm two of the merchants and then hit them with their own weapons. Every time their failed attempts at an assault was made, Tyrian became even more pumped with joy.

From the backend of the market, a thirteenth merchant had heard the noise and came to see what was going on. In an instant he noticed Tyrian and his fellow salesmen trying to take him down. Although clearly outnumbered, Tyrian most certainly was in control of this scrimmage.  
Hoping to get the element of surprise, he approached Tyrian from behind with a knife.

The sixth sense in Tyrian triggered and he instinctively lashed out from behind with his stinger without even looking. It impaled the thirteenth merchant, straight into his guts. He retracted his stringer and waggled it around.

'He's a vastaya!' the fruit merchant yelled. 'Lynch him!'  
The group's aggression now increased tremendously. They were now ready to kill and roared in anger.  
'Kill the vastaya, then sell his animal parts for money!'

Their hostility had risen, but so did Tyrian's own insanity. They were no match for his sheer quickness and martial prowess. He knocked down one; threw two over his head into a stall of apparatus; successfully shot bullets from his wrist into the limbs of three, tripped over three more rest with his tail before stinging them.  
Finally he was left with two who were standing on either side of him. Both of them were wielding sharp knives.  
'Come and get me then!' Tyrian taunted.  
With blind fury, they rushed towards him. It was exactly as he anticipated. Tyrian jumped backwards and watched in amusement as they stabbed each other in the shoulders.  
As the last two men fell over, he laughed and laughed. 'Ahahah! AHAHAHA! Oh how entertaining irony can be!'

None of them were dead, but Tyrian had left them with cuts and wounds, which were likely to become infected. 'Oh, mere child's play! Is no one here going to offer me a challenge?!'  
The merchant of fruit was lying on the floor, clutching his head. He had banged it as he had fallen.  
Tyrian stood over him with a gleeful smile. 'You should you treat your customers with more respect next time.' he said smugly.

'Fine…' said the dazed merchant. 'Take it if you want. It's all yours. Just… get away from me…'

'Actually, I think I'll pass.' said Tyrian. 'From the sample I got to try, I was absolutely _disgusted_ with the taste. Listen to your consumers and learn from their feedback. It'll get you much better results and money.'  
He kicked the merchant in the head before leaving the market place.

* * *

Tyrian was having so much fun that almost forgot about the problematic helpless situation he was in. However, despite being so far away from home and with no idea of how to get back, Tyrian was more than capable of fending for himself.

As he jogged along the path that was signed towards Zaun's upper levels, he noticed that he was covered in blood from everyone he had fought and cut.

Tyrian believed that he had a sense of where he was going, but in reality he did not. It's very difficult to fool yourself into treating something with familiarity when you don't actually know it at all. Tyrian himself had felt unfulfilled without a true purpose: a master's will to uphold. It was Salem that gave him the reason to live his life on the edge of tomorrow.

If there was one thing Tyrian could relate to however, it was the sense craziness that Zaun gave off. Even though he had yet to run into any proper hooligans, Tyrian felt for sure that there could be people just as deranged as he was. It wasn't Tyrian's real objective though. The then and there required him to find a way back to his goddess, but he had no idea where to start. It was better to immerse himself in his new surroundings.

Zaun was a maze of networks, all going to and from different areas in the city. For someone who had never been there before, everything looked the same to him. Despite following the directions to "Upper Zaun", Tyrian wasn't sure of what to expect. He began to feel mildly agitated. ' _I must find a way out of here. I must. I must!'_  
He was following a passageway that went underneath the middle levels of the city. He was essentially inside a tunnel. It was lit by lights which became dimmer as he went along and had two thick pipes running on both sides. He jogged his way through the tunnel for two minutes and found himself slowing down though; the air in his lungs was making him feel exhausted.

Eventually he made it to the end of the tunnel where he found a mouldy wooden door, which was held together only by beams nailed across it horizontally.  
Tyrian kicked it open with some force and it flew off of its hinges. Immediately in front of him next to the doorway though, were several tipped up barrels. A hideous smelling, green liquid was on the floor. Tyrian jumped over it and examined the new area he was in. It riddled with metal contraptions; furnaces, steam pipes, gears and other gadgetry, which he had not a single clue as to what they did. He looked upwards and saw that there was no roof, but instead a rocky set of stalactites. He was in some sort of cavern.

To Tyrian's right was a walkway that led down to a shallow yellow river that seemed to lead into the sewers. The left on the other hand had an actual walkway. The stone wall that followed this pathway on the left had even more valves and pipes running across it, whereas the right was made up of mostly machines.  
With the exception of the constant hiss of steam from above, it was surprisingly quiet down there. 'This is getting interesting. What do we have here?' Tyrian said out loud.  
In the distance, from a direction he could not discern, he heard the sound of metal scratching against metal. It was ear-grating, but this was not all: the sound was also accompanied by a roar. Something was down there with Tyrian. His smiled deviously, thrilled at the anticipation of what he might encounter. Tyrian was craving for more excitement.

Without thinking about the consequences of it, Tyrian picked up a loose iron bar off the floor and swung it against the pipes on the stone wall.  
Despite the area being incredibly open, the sound reverberated across the walls and the cavern ceiling.  
The noise was reciprocated. First, the horrible sound of metal grinding against metal and another roar, this time much louder, was returned, followed by a howl and the sound of a something sprinting.  
Tyrian cracked his knuckles and stretched his stinger before curling it around himself again. He stood with his knees bent and wrist blades ready.

He was expecting something, but did not anticipate where this thing would come from. It was only because of Tyrian's absurd amounts of adrenaline and quick reflexes that saved him as the beast dived onto him from above. He threw himself out of the way as the monster landed on the floor. Tyrian recovered and stood up as quickly as he could.  
What stood before him was some sort of wolf-like animal, comparable to the size of a Beowolf. It had dark blue fur, teeth too big to fit in its mouth, metal claws and braces around its forearms, blood-red eyes and an apparatus lodged into its back, which seemed to be providing it with fluids of some sort.

They both stared at each other in the eyes for only a second before the wolf pounced again. Tyrian once again threw himself to the side as the wolf missed him twice. It spat in fury and ran its claws through the ground, ripping away the stone.  
'Blood, all over you!' it said with difficulty.

Tyrian looked surprised. 'Oh, you can speak?' he said. 'I wonder who trained you to do that.'

'Blood spilled… Warwick smells blood… die!'

'You'll have to _make_ me die.' said Tyrian energetically. 'Let's go!'

Warwick detonated with lust for blood. It was so powerful that Tyrian was physically knocked back by the roar. But it only disarmed him for a second. Tyrian was ready anything.  
He rushed forward with his wrist blades at the ready – so did Warwick. They exchanged blows, all with the horrible sound of blade clashing against blade. Tyrian was quick with his strikes and unpredictable. His fighting style was indomitable against other Huntsmen and Huntresses who had had the misfortune to confront him in combat, but Warwick was nothing like a conventional Huntsmen and certainly not a regular old Grimm. He was immensely stronger, resilient and difficult to land a blow on.  
Tyrian deflected all of Warwick's swipes, however he could feel that he was being overwhelmed. He tried to sneak in a hit from the side, but Warwick could easily block it, with how much range he had with his claws.

Realising that the up-close approach wasn't working, Tyrian backed off and fired from his wrist guns. The bullets hit Warwick directly but he was able to completely shrug them off.

'Those do _nothing_!' Warwick growled and he ran towards Tyrian.

The fight was not going in Tyrian's favour as he had expected it to. He could not let Warwick get on top of him, otherwise he would not be able to get him off.

Warwick set his eyes on Tyrian's face of madness and moved, this time only on two legs, towards him, so that he could use his claws to rip him apart. 'Bleed!'

Tyrian used Warwick's primitive form of attacking against him. He jumped against the wall to propel himself off of it, and landed on Warwick's back. He was about the lash at Warwick's device, but was instantly grabbed by his left paw and thrown to the ground instantly. Tyrian cried out in pain and tried to wrestle his arm free from Warwick's grasp, but couldn't.  
Warwick held him down and drooled onto Tyrian's face as he glared at his prey. 'Hungry, for meat!' He opened his mouth and bit down.  
The instinct of dodging kicked in at the last second before Tyrian moved his head to the left, saving himself within an inch of his life. Warwick chomped hard, but bit down on nothing other than the filthy air.

With the split second of free time that Tyrian had when Warwick was more vulnerable, he lashed his stinger upwards, jabbing his foe straight into the stomach.  
Warwick's body was tough and had withstood so much unbearable torture and needles from the infamous mad chemist of Zaun – Singed – but even he couldn't act unflinchingly towards the incredibly sharp pain and thrust behind the stab. He instinctively took his claws away from Tyrian and put his paws around the wound.  
Pressing the advantage with every single moment was crucial for Tyrian to win. He punched upwards, really hard, hitting Warwick in the snout.  
The beast reared back, now clutching its nose.

'Perfect!' said Tyrian, jumping to his feet and wiped his face. Warwick was exposed. Tyrian wailed on him with his wrist blades.  
Warwick moaned and snarled. He was confused, his vision was blurry and his nose was in a frenzy with his own blood inside of it.  
The blades were doing _some_ damage, but not enough to truly subdue him. Warwick was beyond human and could not be taken down by conventional means. He took over twenty one slashes, yet in that time Tyrian had only inflicted mild cuts, and the poison's debilitating effects had already worn off. Warwick flailed his arm forward, pushing Tyrian back.

Tyrian was getting frustrated as he realised that this monster was not going down without some serious punishment. Tyrian was far from being a strategic fighter, but he knew how to use the environment to his advantage. It was the only choice he had, even if this was not his turf.  
He began to run along the pathway. 'See you later, doggy!' Tyrian taunted.

'You cannot run!' Warwick growled, who began to chase on all fours. He was fast, exceptionally fast with the apparatus in his back and the pungent smell of blood in his nose. Tyrian didn't know the ins and outs of Zaun, but Warwick did.  
Barrels, awkwardly positioned stairs and chemicals on the ground stood in Tyrian's way. He almost lost his balanced and tripped over three times, but he just managed to keep up the pace. There were a few stray objects along the run, and Tyrian tried throwing some of them in the direction he had come from, but Warwick either jumped over them, head-butted it out of the way, or just completely ignored it entirely – this included a handmade explosive in a jar that Tyrian found and tossed back at Warwick; he ran through the explosion as though it were nothing more than a smoke bomb.

Tyrian kept running. Never in his life had he felt so weak. ' _Why won't that mutt die?!'_  
He turned the corner around a set of crates. The air was suddenly much colder. The walls of contraptions had ended and Tyrian found himself next to the edge of a cliff, with a wired fence at the edge of. The open space revealed a cable car system that ran from where a balcony stood, twenty metres in front of him, up to an entirely new area, high above the caverns. It went directly across the gorge. The drop below was like an abyss. There was so much smoke spewing out of it that you could not see where the fall ended.  
There was nowhere else to run. Tyrian dashed towards the cable car, jumping up the small set of stairs that led onto the balcony. He scrambled inside and pulled the lever. The engine began to rev up, but it wouldn't begin moving immediately – it needed to warm up first. Warwick appeared from behind the crates – he had reached the cliffs. Tyrian saw that the cable car had a thick iron door. He reached for the handle, slammed it shut and then turned the giant circular lock. It was like being inside a pod.

'No hiding from me!' Warwick spat. The cable car had only just began to take off, but was slow moving and Warwick had more than enough time to catch up to it. He sprinted on his legs and leaped with tremendous power. The cable car shook violently as it absorbed Warwick's body weight.  
Tyrian held onto the lever inside to stop himself from falling over.

It was not good enough though. Warwick held his paw firmly around the wire that carried the pod over the gorge and used his other one to punch his way through the roof. Tyrian could see the iron being caved inwards and stood well back from where Warwick was attempting to break in - however the pod itself was very small; there was nowhere to move or reposition himself.

The iron ruptured as Warwick successfully managed to use brute force to make a hole in the cable car. He stuck his nose inside, only to receive a face full of bullets. He retracted his head and growled. 'Give in! Become meat!'

'You're going to have to try a lot harder than that!' said Tyrian wildly, letting his proclivity for danger and hype take control of him again.

Every remark that Tyrian spewed made Warwick even angrier. He turned his attention to another spot on the roof and started to claw his way through it. This time it was even easier to break – it seemed to be a wrought part. Warwick learned not to poke his nose though the hole this time though. He leaned over the back. This was where the only window was. He snarled at Tyrian, upside down, to which Tyrian responded by pulling a funny face.  
Enraged, Warwick punched through the glass effortlessly. His claws only just missed Tyrian's face, but the shattered glass didn't. Three shards scratched his cheeks, creating small cuts.

If Warwick managed to get inside the capsule, it was all over: Tyrian had to escape. ' _Where can I go, though?!_ ' he asked himself. They hadn't even made it to the upper level yet and there was no way he could jump off and survive the fall. Tyrian was mad, but not suicidal.

Warwick began to try and break open the back panel where the window had been. His raw strength was believable. Not even Hazel could rip iron apart with his bare hands.  
He was coming in from the back, so Tyrian had to make his exit from the front. He twisted the lock open and let the door swing outwards. He held on to it with his hands and put his feet against the inner frame of the door to support himself. It kept rocking backwards and forwards because of the frantic movements of both Tyrian and Warwick.

The top of the back panel, just above the window, broke open and the scraps of metal flew outwards. Tyrian only just managed to climb around to the other side of the door to avoid being hit by the fragments of iron as they rocketed past him and plummeted into the pit below. It was his overdose of epinephrine that kept him on the move and alert. He saw Warwick stick his head inside the pod and seized the opportunity.  
'Take this!' He lashed out behind him with his stinger to its fullest length. It jabbed Warwick in his face, just missing his right eyeball. Warwick let off a shriek and reflexively jerked away from the stinger, accidentally cutting the skin on his neck on the jagged hole he had made. 'You'll pay for that!' he gasped. Warwick was already ignoring the pain and making his next move. He climbed onto the top of the cable car again and crawled towards Tyrian, who was still holding onto the top of the door. 'You're mine!'

'I don't think so!' said Tyrian confidently. He quickly climbed to the bottom of the door, so that he was dangling precariously over the abyss, hanging onto the bottom with his fingers. If he accidentally let go now, it would be all over. He couldn't give up though, he just had to evade Warwick as long as he could before they made it to the top of the cavern. Now, they were just over halfway there.  
He looked underneath the capsule and saw that there were a set of chains attached to it at each end. They were arranged a little bit like monkey ropes, forming arches. If they could support Tyrian's bodyweight, he could hold onto them. He couldn't be sure if they would, but it was worth a try.  
Keeping his right hand firmly on the door, he used his left hand to grab the nearest chain. Once he was sure he'd got it, he moved his right hand and placed both of them around the chain. If his hands slipped now, he was a goner.

Warwick hadn't seen where Tyrian had gone, but his nose did all the searching for him. 'Try… hide!' he snarled. Warwick lowered himself to the inside of the pod and looked downwards.

Tyrian gave him a goofy smile. 'Think fast!' he yelled before thrusting his stinger straight into Warwick's left nostril.

Warwick howled in pain and pulled himself upwards. His eyesight became dark and his sense of smell weakened. 'I'll bite you tail off!'

Tyrian sniggered but continued to focus on the chains. His hands were covered in sweat and the chains didn't have the best grip. His upper arm strength was good, but he would have to come up eventually to stop too much lactic acid building up. Even in the most precarious situations like these though, Tyrian couldn't help but smile. He was a thrill seeker and always looked for ways to make his heart beat as much as it possibly could.

The capsule jolted and shook. Tyrian looked upwards to see a point in its underbelly expand. Warwick was ripping his way through the floor.  
Fortunately for Tyrian, it was on the left right side of the capsule: the opposite end to where he was.  
Warwick's claw burst through the floor. He waved his hand around to see if he could grab anything. When he had not found anything, he pulled his hand back and tried another part of the floor. This time he was directly above his target.

Tyrian moved his arms and himself across until he was hanging from the chain at the back of the capsule. He watched in shock as Warwick's hand broke through the floor again. ' _I can't stay here, I have to move._ '  
He moved his head backwards so that he could look at the back of the cable car. There was only one thing he could use to climb up again: a rusty pole that run along the back-left corner of the cable car. It did not look sturdy at all, but Tyrian was running out of options. Warwick was adapting to his strategies and destroying the vessel piece by piece as it was.  
He reached upwards to the pole with his left hand and used his remaining strength to pull himself back up.  
Tyrian made it to the top, but as he put his arms on top of the cable car, the pole snapped and Tyrian jumped to ensure that he'd made it safely onto the roof.

Warwick heard where the noise had come from and knew to head to the roof again.

Tyrian waited, ready to fire the bullets from his wrist. There were not many left, so he had to make every shot count.  
Warwick emerged from the capsule and was pelted with a load of bullets. Like the last time Tyrian had tried shooting him though, it was completely impotent. Warwick shook off the bullets and climbed onto the roof.  
The two of them were face to face. One was filled with delirium, the other was drenched in wrath.

'You're finished, prey!' Warwick bellowed.

Tyrian looked over his shoulder. They were almost there – less than twenty metres to go. With no other possibility of escaping this heart-pumping game of cat-and-mouse alive, Tyrian jumped to the wire that was carrying the cable car.

'No escape up there!' Warwick growled

'Come and get me then!' Tyrian jeered.

Warwick placed his paws around the wire and followed Tyrian up, snapping his teeth. Yet in spite of how well he thought he knew his prey, no one could truthfully say they could outwit someone as unstable and capricious as Tyrian. He thrust his stinger down again. This time, it went straight through Warwick's right eyeball.  
Warwick let go of the wire and howled in pain. He landed on his front and entered an even wilder frenzy than he was already in. 'DIE!' He picked himself up, crouched and used as much power in his legs and possible to launch himself upwards.

Tyrian was still climbing, trying to get as high as he could. He saw Warwick rocketing up towards him. He swung his body upwards at the last second, only just escaping Warwick's claws. They missed but his swipe was still strong enough to cut through the wire…

They both caught each other's' eye one last time before Warwick hurtled downwards. The cable capsule hovered in the air for less than a second before plunging into the abyss below. Warwick roared with a mixture of fear and undiluted anger. 'I'll get YOU!'  
To which, Tyrian only smiled.

Six seconds passed before the deafening sound of the capsule crashing into the pit below bounced off the cavern walls, succeeded by the howls and squeals of a beast in agony.

* * *

Tyrian swung himself over to the balcony, where the cable car was supposed to dock. He had made it, alive and in one piece.  
He collapsed from exhaustion and began to laugh. He laughed, and laughed, and laughed. 'Ahahaha! Hehahahaha! Wahahahahaha!' He laughed for three minutes straight before finally getting up and moving towards a wooden door behind him. He pushed it open to find himself at the exit of the cavern.  
He could see a gorgeous sunset: it was so bright. Of course, it was accentuated by how long Tyrian had been in the darkness underground, but the sight of it made his eyes water. Regardless though, he was extremely pleased it see it.  
Tyrian was now back at street level. Here, the roads and pavements were much cleaner and the air smelled much fresher. 'Oh, how pleasant.' said Tyrian.

He continued walking, ignoring the various people who gave him ugly stares of confusion, until he got to a sign which read: "Now entering Piltover".  
'Piltover? That's the place those scruffy boys mentioned.' Tyrian said to himself. He strolled onwards, whistling as he went.

As he came closer to the city's borders, he suddenly heard the sound of sirens blaring in the distance. It was mixed with the sounds of guns blazing and explosives. Tyrian entered a run, keen to find out what was going on.  
Then he heard a very distinct sound, which he had only ever heard before in himself: an incredibly loud, hysterical laugh, albeit more high pitched than his was.

Tyrian grinned. More pandemonium: this was exactly what he wanted.


	20. Natural Beauty

**Chapter 20** – Natural Beauty

'Careful now, don't strain yourself.' said Soraka as she offered a hand to help Amber to her feet.

Simply putting her bodyweight onto her legs was enervating. She had no way of determining how long she had been in a comma, but enough time had passed to debilitate her ability to simply walk. 'I'm _fi_ ne.' she winced as she put just a bit too much pressure on her left leg.  
It had been two days since she had woken up and had made virtually no signs of proper recovery. Neither she nor Soraka could gauge whether or not this was to be expected in these circumstances.

'Are you ready to use one of the shrines?' Soraka asked.

'Yes, I think so.

'Alright then. Place one foot on it first and see how you feel before putting the second on as well.'

'You're making this seem like a very big deal, Soraka.' Amber remarked, half-jokingly, half serious. 'It's like giving me instructions on how to address someone important that I meet.'

'I don't mean to put pressure on you.' replied Soraka with a warm but worried look on her face. 'But I'm just being cautious. Bard is as much of a caretaker as he is an enigma. I said that Bard is only concerned about putting the right where there is wrong and restoring balance to the world, but if I'm being honest with myself and acknowledging what many scholars say about him, you can never be sure if anything said about Bard is true. I don't know the full extent of his powers, and I certainly don't know if everything he does can be considered benevolent. The apprehension of the unknown: that's how I'm treating these shrines.'

'I understand.' said Amber. 'There's no such thing as being too careful.'

'But don't think too much about it. I'm here, so just relax and let the Shrines work their magic.' Soraka smiled.

Amber nodded and took a deep breath. 'One… two… three.' She placed her right foot on the disk of the shrine. A warm sensation swam up her leg and reached her torso. There was nothing she could really compare it to, but it oozed with comfort.

'How do you feel?' Soraka asked.

Amber turned her head around and beamed. 'Brilliant.' she declared before putting her whole body into the light of the shrine. It energised her with an aura that was unlike anything she had ever experienced before in Remnant. She stood on it for ten seconds until its power was depleted. Stepping out of it was like exiting a warm shower into the comparatively cool air and it made her shiver slightly.

Soraka noticed this and grabbed hold of Amber's shoulders in alarm. 'Are you okay?'

'Soraka, it's alright. I'm fine: really I am.' Amber insisted. 'It was just so warm standing in the shrine that the cave seems rather cold by comparison.'

'As long as you're not hurt; that's what matters.' Soraka said, taking a sigh of relief and letting go of Amber. 'Bard's miracles really are more than just rumours. Oh, but has your magic returned?'

'Umm…' Amber searched her inner self, trying to inexplicably locate her own Aura. She had been reinvigorated with natural energy, but the fire of the Fall Maiden was still wounded with absence. 'It hasn't…' she said quietly.

'Yes, it seems like your magic is, as we theorised, something that cannot be replaced, but something that has to be taken back.' said Soraka.

Amber dropped to her knees, put her hands over her face and sobbed. In an instant Soraka dropped as well and embraced Amber in a tight but also comforting hug.  
'Please, don't worry about it too much.' Soraka almost pleaded. 'I know it's a shock, and the woman that you described who stole from you doesn't sound like someone you can take lightly, but in the here and now, your wellbeing is what matters more than your duty as a Maiden. You're standing and are able to move after being in a coma. That's amazing and it's a start to your full recovery. Don't lose hope yet.'

'T-thank you…' Amber sniffed. She returned Soraka's warmth by putting her own hands around her as well.

'Are you still interested in exploring Ionia?' asked Soraka.

'Yes, I would love that.' replied Amber.

'Fabulous.' Soraka said cheerfully. She grabbed her staff and led Amber outside. The sunlight was initially too bright for Amber, but she quickly acclimatised to it, and in its place took something stunning.

* * *

First impressions are everything – as some people say – and nothing could adequately describe how mesmerised Amber felt as she took just one glance from left to right of the landscape before her. It was beyond beautiful. The trees were tall and painted with a plethora of colours. Sweet vegetation grew on the rocks, dowsing them in life. The grass was perfectly green and was garnished with pretty flowers.  
'It's gorgeous.' Amber whispered.

'Well let's keeping going then.' Soraka smiled as she directed Amber towards the west, hoping to show off more of Ionia's exotic wildlife in West Navori.

Amber was easily distracted by the scenery, which allowed Soraka to keep a close eye on her. Based on the way Amber was able to turn pirouette and absorb her surroundings without looking exactly where she was going and not fall over was a good sign for Soraka. _Hopefully all this travelling won't be overwhelming and tire her out._

They walked past nests of birds and habitats of mammals that Amber had never seen before. At first some of them looked almost freakish, but she almost immediately warmed up to their cute looks. Amber was particularly enthralled with what appeared to be a half monkey/half squirrel with wings.  
'The fauna here is so rich. I've never been so in love with nature as I am now.'

'I told you that you would love it.'

'So, Soraka, as we walk together, is there anything else you can tell me about yourself or of Ionia. I feel so close to you, yet I only know your name and that you describe yourself as a healer.'

'Which would you like to hear about first?'

'I guess… I would prefer to learn more about my new friend.' said Amber. 'That is, if you don't mind of course.' she added quickly. 'You don't have to be too personal. I'm just intruiged.'

'It's absolutely fine Amber. I would be glad to share my story with you. I'll warn you though that what I have to say might be a bit unbelievable. If you feel incredulous about it, that's absolutely understandable, but I ask that you give me your trust in that I am not lying.'

'I trust you.' Amber smiled.

'Very well then. So, you may be curious about my appearance, I imagine?

'Umm…'

'Just be honest. When you first laid your eyes on me, I probably startled you.'

'A little bit, yes.' said Amber, trying not to sound hurtful.

'You might find it relieving to know that the majority of people that live on Runeterra look just like you. "Humans". Is that the right word?'

'That's what I refer to my kind as.'

'Great. So yes, almost all corners of society in Runeterra are run by humans. Virtually no one looks like me. You know, I still cannot get over the fact that we speak the same language. What are the odds this being the case?'

'I would have thought of it as being impossible, but it appears that it's not.'

'Incredibly, absolutely incredible.' Soraka marvelled. 'But I digress. I cannot properly describe my form, but am a celestial incarnate.' She paused to see how Amber reacted.

She was amazed but did not doubt. Her staff, ability to heal Amber and otherworldly appearance was evidence enough for her that Soraka was telling the truth. 'That's amazing.'

'I… do sometime wonders why I was given such an unusual appearance: I certainly did not choose to look this way. It's inconvenient for both me and the person I'm trying to help when they run away at the sight of me, however that is not important. I left the celestial realm because my heart had – and still does have – an overgrowing concern with the lives of the mortals that live on this planet: and I don't mean "mortal" in the derogatory sense, but literally, people with finite lives.  
'Mankind is wild and unpredictable at times. They would engage in conflict and violence, selfishly seeking for their own gain at the expense of other people. The celestials were there to passively provide guidance, but many of them would misconstrue our cosmic messages and use it as justification for committing wrong.

'So I eventually decided that I could not remain in the heavens; I had to be active and literally help those in need. By making this choice, I sacrificed my immortal form and took on one of flesh and blood. By doing this, I could come close to Runeterra and its fauna and humans for the first time. I saw what human wars were like and how devastating they were. My impressions in the celestial realm were that people are innately bad, but as I got to know more humans on a personal level, I realised that they had as much capacity to be kind as they had to be evil: but it is all dependent on which way they turn their hearts.

'Millennia has passed since the day I descended to Runeterra, and I have done my very best to tranquilise ongoing or potential feuds. Where someone is injured from wounds of flesh and bone, I grant them a physical healing. If a person is suffering from horrors stemming from the mind, I give them a blessing. Counselling someone who is in pain and letting them confess their anguish does so much to alleviate them of the trauma that they are experiencing, however this is something that any person can do with enough practice and charisma. Wounds – and seemingly irreparable ones – on the other hand need something that transcends the mortal roof. Although I may not be a full celestial anymore, the power of the stars still flows through my body. I do not mean to praise myself, but I have saved a lot of people and led them into a greater way of life. Whilst my work is far from over yet – and I still unable to save everyone – I press on, determined to save civilisation from its own demise and I will not give up until the day I succeed or the day I am incapable of doing it anymore.'

Amber stopped and let this news sink in. 'And I thought _my_ duty was overwhelmingly difficult to bear…'

'Amber, please do not let my story make you feel inadequate by comparison. Remember that I am a former celestial with thousands of years of experience. You are a young human with a daunting task. Do people get a choice of whether or not they become a Maiden?'

'No.'

'Then it is not right to compare us, in that sense. I do not doubt for a second that your duty is just as hard, relative to mine. I am just telling you more about who I am, but I guess you were not expecting that.'

'I wasn't, but then again you did tell me that it would be hard to believe.'

'Don't think any less of yourself. I know you're a wonderful person with a heart of gold.'

Amber wiped away a tear that had escaped her right eye. 'Thank you, Soraka. You're an amazing person to.

'Thank you as well.'

'So what is there to know about Ionia?' Amber asked, bringing the subject back to Runeterra.

'Oh, right, of course. Ionia can be summarised as a land where its people and communities try to live in harmony with nature, but also magic. The wall between the spiritual and physical realm is so thin here that almost anyone can have an encounter with the impalpable. Some do it on a far more regular basis if they develop a relationship with the land around them and the spirits that inhabit it. As you can probably tell, nature here is far more prevalent here than anywhere else in Runeterra and many people use the natural resources at their disposal to live. Technology and industry is almost non-existent in Ionia. For some people this would be a boring place to live, but those who are more emotional or have less interest in gadgets will thrive here and live happily with their family, friends and spiritual neighbours.

'Here's an interesting phenomenon. Many Ionians live in trees, which have grown at the behest of a wood weaver, who persuaded the tree spirit to mould in such a way that people could live in it. Therefore the tree still gets to live without being chopped down, and the people get a roof over their head. Farmers and harvesters who have lived her for a long time are in tune with the spirits, for many of them are itinerant. They know where food is likely to sprout and what gifts the spirits will want in exchange for crops.  
'It sounds like something out of a fairy-tale, but that's what makes Ionia so literally magical and appealing.'

'That sounds wonderful.' Amber remarked. 'If it wasn't for the fact that I need to get back home, I would love to live here.'

'I've never lived properly in Ionia myself, but I know from the way that Ionian immigrants have described it that it takes some getting used to. Many Ionians are arguable less educated than people in other regions, since there is less emphasis on the disciplines of science and the potential that can be done with technology and engineering, but the alternative is far more satisfaction with the simpler things and an understanding of culturally rich philosophies.'

'To be honest, that sounds almost exactly the way I would like to be: someone with a greater appreciation of the natural order and not as much avarice, which many people can fall for.'

Soraka smiled. 'Ionia's culture and history is absolutely fascinating, but it has been a bit rough here in recent decades. Some of the newer generations have adopted different ideologies, which clash with the traditional Ionian teachings; I suppose that it's inevitable though: older people are very conservative to the things they grew up with, whereas young people are more adaptable to what they truly believe once they make it past adolescence.

'The most notable thing to have happened though was nine years ago, when the nation of Noxus invaded Ionia's west coast. Noxus is a ferociously imperialistic region that is always looking to expand its borders and landmass. With Ionia's lack of a central government and technology, it was a tempting target to make a colony out of. Eventually, the Noxians were driven out, but not without the costs of so many lives from both sides. Whilst I never engaged in the actual warfare myself, I was here, healing the wounded and attempting to raise the victims' morale. It was truly an awful time, and the aftermath can still be seen to this day. Ionia is slowly returning itself to the country it was prior to the Noxian invasion, but it still has ways to go and the stain on its history will probably never be wiped off completely.'

'How dreadful.' said Amber. 'Who could possibly be so inhumane to organise such an attack on a peaceful nation?'

'Boram Darkwill was his name: an expansionist who was the impetus for Noxus finally invading Ionia after years of debate and consideration. He was a nasty man, who sent countless amounts of people to their deaths. But after Noxus retreated from Ionia, he was usurped by a cunning, _ruthless_ man known as Swain. I saw his face only once, but if he was capable of overthrowing Darkwill, of all people, and unifying the whole of Noxus once more, you know that you're dealing with a man who is not to be messed with.'

'Just thinking about that gives me shivers…' Amber commented.

'But yes, that is the essence of Ionia's culture and history. What do you think?'

'Enchanting and beyond engrossing. Never could I have imagined that such a world existed outside of my own.'

* * *

Soraka and Amber resumed their walk on the linear path and eventually they reached the entrance to a thicket of trees. It was surrounded by a kaleidoscope of butterflies and tiny flowers.

'I don't think I have ever been in this forest before.' said Soraka. She poked her head inside and had a quick look. The sunlight was making its way into the groves through the gaps that the trees allowed it to pass through. It wasn't as bright as the clear sky, but the way in which the light was dispersed was nothing short of beautiful. 'It looks safe though. Do you want to come in?'

'I don't see why not. I would love to see what a forest in Ionia looks like.'

They stepped inside and both let out a quiet but potent ' _Wow'_. In addition to the trees and tall brushes of perfectly green grass, the bases of the trunks wore a variety of different mushrooms and funguses. Little birds had made their nests inside the trees or on the branches – just like the Ionians did.  
Flowers – dozens of them grew all around and there even some cute, furry animals and other species from different genera.

'How can nature possibly be so beautiful?' Amber vocalised, speaking her thoughts out loud. 'This would have been unimaginable, had I not seen it for myself.'

'Welcome to Ionia.' said Soraka jokingly.

As they went deeper into the forest, they found even more bizarre animals. Fat frogs with ginormous mouths and bellies, rocks that seemed to be sentient, with feet, and even adorable three headed wolves that were taking a nap. A short, grey snake emerged from the grass to their left; Amber jumped back, surprised by its sudden appearance. It analysed the two of them before slithering away.

'Just a snake.' Amber said to herself.

'Are you not a fan of them?' Soraka asked.

'It's not that. I just didn't expect to look down and see it by my feet.

Soraka chuckled they continued exploring.

A few minutes of walking past. They found a bush of red berries, and Amber noticed that she was hungry. 'I haven't eaten in a while.' she said. 'Do you know if those berries are edible or not?'

'They look familiar.' said Soraka after going forward for a closer inspection and fondling one in her fingers. 'I must have had one years ago, so I think it's safe to eat.'

'I would rather not desecrate it, but I really do need some food.'  
She reached out with her hand and put her finger around one of the riper looking ones.

'Stop! Don't do that!' cried out a voice from behind them.

Amber let go of the berry in fright, and they turned around to see a lanky tree-like thing striding towards them. It had a face and a concerned look on it. 'Please don't pull it from its branch. They haven't lived their life to the fullest yet.'

Amber would have run away in fright if it was not for the tree's seemingly friendliness. 'Sorry!' she cried out apologetically. 'I was just hungry. I didn't realise this was your forest.'

'Ah, yes. Humans don't photosynthesise like I do…' said the tree. 'They need food to survive. Perhaps then you would like one of my cupcakes?' He reached behind him and pulled a pink-iced cake from who knows where and handed it to Amber. 'I promise it tastes as sweet as it looks.'

Hesitantly, Amber took the cake from the tree's hands. 'Thank you, Sir.' she said before taking a bite into it, unsure of what to refer to him as. 'It's delicious.' Amber said after swallowing her first mouthful.

'Do you want one as well?' the tree said, addressing Soraka this time.

'I'm okay, but thank you for offering them to me.' Soraka replied.

'Normally I get very nervous at the sight of two people walking through here: because sometimes they are callous towards nature. It's like they forget that plants and vegetation are living things too. But you two ladies have the look of nature enthusiasts. If I am right in assuming that, I welcome you to my forest.'

'This is a wonderful forest you have here, Sir.' Amber complimented. 'Its beauty makes my eyes water.'

'I return your commendation with thanks of my own.' said the tree merrily.

'Please pardon my rudeness, but may I ask who you are?' Amber asked.

'My dear lady, you truly are a flower of politeness. I'm a tree-hugger, in case you couldn't tell.'

'Yes but, do you have a name? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just curious.'

The tree chuckled. 'I've gone by many names and aliases overtime. If you wanted to go by a title, I am known as "The Green Father", but you can just call me "Ivern". Honestly, you could call me anything. "Tree Man", "Friend of the Forest", maybe even "Candy King". Oh, but I would rather that you did not call me "Barbarian" or "Monster". That would hurt my feelings.'

'Very well then. It's nice to meet you, Ivern.'

'A pleasure it is.' Soraka agreed.

'And you as well.' Ivern responded. 'What are your names?'

'I'm Amber.'

'And I'm Soraka.'

'How lovely. The next time a tulip sprouts, I will name it after one of you, and the next one will be named after the other.'

'So Ivern, how is the nature here so indescribably stunning? Do you nurture it?' Amber asked.

'Every day of my life.' Ivern confirmed proudly. 'Nature is precious, but also delicate and needs protection from those who don't carry the same passion for it. If there is any way of describing it through analogy, I am the caretaker of the forest. I greet every living organism I come across and hope to bond with it. Some are shier than other, but each flower and animal has its own personality. That may seem ridiculous at first, but when you spend as much time around nature as I do, you soon realise it and develop a sense of plant and animal behaviour and how they respond to stimuli. Perhaps it is because chloroplasts run through my body instead of blood, or because I am essentially a walking and talking tree, but I find it so easy to communicate with all forms of life.  
'It's a skill that I wish other people could develop. You get Ionians with pets and gardens, but it's not the same as creating a personal relationship with it.'

'Do you not lose track of everyone that lives in the forest though?' said Amber. 'Are there some you know better than others?'

'You are right. Sometimes I have to ask a plant or animal to repeat its name for me. My memory is not perfect, after all, but they understand that that is just how it is. As they mature and become older, I am more likely to remember who is who. For instance, say hello to one of my closest friends: Daisy. Come out, Daisy!' Ivern cued.  
A large boulder with giant arms and flowers on its head, similar to those on Iverns, came out from behind a tree. Daisy stumbled towards them and waved once it reached Ivern's side.

Daisy did not say anything – or at least, Amber and Soraka did not hear Daisy say anything audible – so they hesitantly waved back. 'Hi, nice to meet you too Daisy.' they both said.

'Don't worry, Daisy's very shy and also rather clumsy at times, so if she seems socially inept, it's because she struggles when meeting new people.'

'I see.' said Soraka.

'That's fine.' Amber agreed. 'She doesn't have to be.'

'Thank you for not intimidating her.' said Ivern with gratitude. Also, take a look at this snake.'  
The snake that Amber and Soraka had seen earlier on their trek through the forest crawled out of the bush on Ivern's face. 'This is Sviper. He's two years old now. They grow up so fast.' said Ivern. His voice was full of affection. 'He told me that two people were walking through the forest. Naturally, he was frightened – bless his soul – and he came to warn me. I am glad though, because he managed to inadvertently save a berry from death.'

'I'm sorry.' said Amber once again. 'It was nothing against the berry: really it wasn't. I just didn't realise how precious it was to you.'

'There's no need to trip over old roots, Amber. Even if you had eaten it, I would still be able to deduce that you two are not enemies of nature. Today is a really happy day for me. You have cheered me up greatly after I discovered the change of night and day.'

Amber and Soraka looked at each other and then back at Ivern.  
'The lengthier days and nights?' Soraka inquired, wondering if Ivern knew more about what was going on.

'It was just so sudden but subtle as well. First it was a vicious earthquake, then the plants were absorbing too much sunlight. At that point, I noticed that the sun has been in the sky for longer than usual. The animals are getting irregular hours of sleep. The excessive sunlight is also hurting the plants, and the younger ones are beginning to wilt before they've even bloomed into a full flower. It saddens me deeply, and I don't know what to do about it. I can't simply wish for the sun to behave normally again…'  
Ivern sniffed. He probably would have cried as well if that was possible for him.

Soraka turned her head to Amber. She nodded to say ' _It's okay. You can tell him._ '  
'Ivern, if we may tell you, we think we know why the sun if behaving the way it is.'

'Hmm, you do? Oh please then, do tell me.'

'It sounds absurd, and it is, but we have evidence to believe that Runeterra has physically merged with another planet, causing the overall mass to increase in size. This means that the planet has more surface area to cover before it can finish one rotation.'

Ivern contemplated this news. 'I am not saying that this is a lie, but what is the evidence you speak of?'

'Well… Amber here is not from Runeterra.'

Ivern's eyes widened and he adopted a crouching position, lowering himself to Amber's height. 'Really?' he said inquisitively. 'That is extraordinary. How could this be?'

'In case you are wondering, I am not responsible for it, and neither Soraka nor I know how it happened.' Amber said quickly.

'Oh… I was hoping you would know how to make the planets become separate again, but I'm not sure what I was expecting. I guess the best I can do is adapt my style of nurturing to the new, longer daily cycle.'

'Yes, that is probably the most you can do.' said Soraka. 'I'm really sorry to hear that this has heavily impacted you and your forest, Ivern. If there was anything we could do to help, we would.'

'Honestly, there isn't much that can be done. It's up to me to make the most of an unideal situation. It'll take time of course and the process will be rather painful, but I will not give up: not if it means that I will save the forest.'

'That's the spirit, Ivern.' said Soraka. 'Well we'd best be on our way then. I'm giving Amber a tour of Ionia and we've still got so much more to see.'

'That is understandable. I'd love to chat for longer, but I also have responsibilities that I must attend to. It's nearing midday now. My plants are going to need to be properly watered.'

'Once again, it was a pleasure to meet you, Ivern.' said Amber emphatically. 'I wish you the best of luck with your forest.'

'Thank you so much. Please come again if you have the chance. Oh, but before you go, I imagine that you'll soon be in need of more food. Daisy, do you have any Ivern-crisp apples to give away?'

Daisy nodded. Ivern then stood up, reached behind Daisy and pulled out some a few apples that were indeed crispy. 'Don't ask how I make them.' Ivern said with a wink. 'It's a secret.'

Amber and Soraka received the apples: three each.  
'Thank you so much, Ivern.' said Soraka.

'Yes, a massive thank you.' Amber added.

'My pleasure.' Ivern said, bowing his long body over. 'Be on your merry way and live your very best.'

Amber and Soraka departed and began munching on the apples once they were out of sight of Ivern.  
'This is a mouth-watering treat.' said Soraka. 'How does it compare to the cupcake he gave you?'

'Just as good.' Amber replied, savouring its flavour. Once she finished the first apple, she asked: 'Are you able to heal flowers, Soraka?'

'Umm…' Soraka paused. 'In truth, I've never actually tried doing that. I probably would have offered if I knew that I could. Looking at all of these flowers though, I cannot tell which are healthy and which aren't. Ivern is probably the only one who can spot the differences.

Soraka and Amber reached the other side of the forest. It had an almost identical entrance: with pretty butterflies and miniature flowers. They took one last glance before leaving and going out into midday sun.

* * *

'What did you think of the forest then?' Soraka asked. She hoped with all her heart that Amber was enjoying her tour and that she was not being too exhausted.

'How can I possibly describe it with enough praise? It was just incredible. Wildlife has never made me feel _this_ joyful before. Admittedly, I did find Ivern a little bit creepy at times, but his heart and genuine kindness could not be mistaken.'

'I feel the exact same way as you.' Soraka concurred. 'A spectacular home of nature and an equally amazing caretaker.'

'So where are we heading now?' Amber questioned.

'It looks like we've coming closer to the edge of Navori, so I think there isn't much to see from here, if I remember correctly. Let's head eastwards. Maybe we can get closer to civilisation. Is that okay with you?'

'Yes, that's fine with me. Let's go then.'

This route took them closer to the mountains. It was slightly colder here and had less green, but the breeze was refreshing and there were plenty of birds soaring across the sky above.

'Do you want to take a break? We've been walking for a long time.' Soraka asked, concernedly.

'Yes, I suppose that would be a good idea.' Amber replied. Why don't we lean against that tree over there?' She pointed to a lone, red leaved tree, standing away from the mountains on the opposite side of the trail.

Amber stepped underneath the branches and in an instant felt dizzy. A voice whispered in her ear.  
' _I knew you would find your mark, eventually_.'

'Amber, watch out!' Soraka exclaimed. She threw herself at Amber and tackled her away from the tree. An explosion erupted from the ground, mere milliseconds after Amber had just been standing there. Had Soraka been any slower and they would have both been blown to pieces.  
Soraka quickly stood up and analysed the area in more detail. The tree had a perfectly round bullet hole through it.

Amber regained her footing and also looked around in a frenzy. 'Up there, on the mountain!' she yelled.

'Wait, what?!'

 _Bang!_

Something struck Soraka _hard_ in the chest: a bullet! She immediately began to feel dizzy, and stumbled backwards, unsure of what was what.

 _Bang!_

A second shot following, hitting Soraka once again in the chest. She was blasted away and cried out in agony as the shot knocked her down.

Amber looked to the mountain again.

 _Bang!_

She dove to the side, hoping to evade the gunman's shot, but somehow the bullet still hit – as though he had predicted in advance where she would go. It launched her backwards. She gritted her teeth, barely able to recover. Amber rolled forward, hoping that the gunman wouldn't be lucky twice in a row.

' _The face of your killer is identical to mine.'_  
She looked below her to see another trap beginning to detonate beneath her feet. It was no use: her body felt so heavy, she was slow and unable dodge.

 _BANG!_

The fourth and most lethal bullet found its target, hitting Amber in the chest. At the exact same time, the trap exploded, enveloping Amber in an excruciating blast. She screamed in torment before the lights were cut.

* * *

The nightmares of Cinder gnawed at her throat. The red and yellow dress, the feeling of her magic being sucked away from her and the devilish grin she had given; it flooded Amber's mind as the anguish wrapped its way around her body. Never in her life had she felt so much pain.

She opened her eyes. Her sight was impaired and everything was blurry. Even after blinking over twenty times, her vision recovered only slightly. The room was a dark grey colour, but that was all she could decipher: not even how big it was. Amber tried moving but nothing happened. Her wrists were suspended from the ceiling, and her ankles had also been immobilised somehow. She was completely helpless. Moving her head was the only thing possible, but this action only exacerbated the anguish. Still though, looking to her right, she could just about see that Soraka was there too, hanging from the same fate.

A door at the opposite end of the room was bashed open. In walked… someone. Amber really could not see who it was…  
The person strolled closer to Amber. It seemed to be a man, based on the muscular left arm, but his right arm and legs had been replaced with mechanical counterparts. He wore a white robe and dark trousers. But her attention was immediately drawn to his face – or more specifically, the mask he was wearing. The look was _disturbing_ , and his heavy breathing only made it worse.

He suddenly grabbed her by the face with his robotic hand and squeezed tightly, whilst pulling out an ostentatiously designed pistol with his normal hand and held it to her chest.

'It's four past four!' he whispered menacingly. 'The perfect time to start the performance!'


	21. Stowaways and a Surging Storm

**Chapter 21 –** Stowaways and a Surging Storm

The night in the uninhabited village had been restful for some, restless for others. Whilst everyone else slept, Team RWBY, Team SSSN and Team JNPR had taken turns standing guard at the perimeter. It was a duty that the adults would have taken, but Ironwood believed that the Huntsmen and Huntresses in training needed the discipline of doing something mundane. The extended night had only made it worse, but dawn soon rose, and breakfast was served _(Nora had miraculously restrained herself from gobbling too much: there was only so much food to go around after all)_.

Afterwards, Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch met behind an abandoned shop, out of earshot of everyone else. Goodwitch wore an expression of concern.  
'Ozpin, I held back my genuine thoughts last night because I didn't want to complicate matters with the consensus being virtually unanimous, but if I'm being honest, I do not agree with the idea of us going to the new world. Ryze is right in saying that we shouldn't concern ourselves with Runeterra's problems. We have our own to attend to at the moment, with Beacon collapsing and the CCTS going offline. Aatrox is a risk, because there's no telling whether or not he'll break free of that spell he's under, and ultimately, is it responsible for us to let our students go without getting permission from their parents?

Ozpin twiddled Goodwitch's points. He certainly did agree with them, but his wisdom told showed him that these exceptional circumstances called for more than just an internal attitude.  
'Glynda, I get what you are saying. There are cons and even risks to this idea, but let's consider what Ryze told us yesterday. He was dubious to divulge anything about these runes, and based on the way he described them, I believe that he desperately needs more people helping him. We do not understand as well as he does their nature and properties, but if knowledge of the runes became known here in Remnant, then what will we do if our enemies manage to get their hands on them.  
'As Ruby pointed out yesterday evening, Remnant and Runeterra have become one large planet. Runeterra's global problems will now extend into Remnant's, so it is ideal that we make allies and establish good relations with the indigenous people of the new world.  
'And as we've now seen, getting from Remnant to Runeterra – and vice versa – doesn't seem to be that difficult. If friends can easily travel between the two worlds, then so can our foes. Lastly, you saw that the students volunteered through their own volition to go to Runeterra. Had they have not raised their hands, rest assured that I would not send them there. I know that the prospect of this mission is far greater than what they get trained to do, but I greatly believe that this is an opportunity which will allow them to become some of the finest Huntsmen and Huntresses in history.'

Ozpin finished and allowed Goodwitch to contemplate his reasoning. Eventually she spoke, with new points to add to the argument.  
'And I too understand your logic Ozpin, but let us consider the further risks. We don't know what Runeterra as a planet is like. What if we don't respond well to its environment? There could be a prevalent disease that our own immune systems cannot cope with, because we aren't natives to the planet. Or what about the fauna and types of people over there? Can we have confidence that our students won't get killed by creatures even more overpowering than the Grimm?'

'Risks like these are no different from the ones that missions here in Remnant present.' Ozpin replied. 'You know as well as I do that Huntsmen and Huntresses must frequently put their lives in danger to serve humanity. Besides, they will have Shen and Ryze accompanying them, ensuring that they stay clear of unnecessary dangers.'

'And how dependable of a safety net do you think Shen and Ryze are?' Goodwitch asked. 'Ryze is clearly short tempered, and he admitted that he has killed many people on his quest for these runes. You say that it's a good idea to establish good relations with Runeterra, and I don't dispute that, but they're an entirely different planet, and we don't know the ins and outs of their culture, ethical code and political systems. How can you be so sure that we _can_ trust anyone from over there?'

'Because Glynda, these three individuals saved our students from death. Blake and Pyrrha would not be alive, had Pantheon and Shen not come just in time. They fought on our side against the White Fang, the Grimm, Aatrox and our enemies whom we still do not know yet. Perhaps they aren't true allies at this moment in time, but could you really call them foes if they acted selflessly to us, for no gain of their own?'

'I… I suppose not.'

'Remember also that Ryze said he has killed the people who had been tempted, and then used the runes irresponsibly, reluctantly for that matter. But I have faith that our students won't fall into this trap.'

'I'm just being cautious, that's all.' said Goodwitch. She folded her arms and looked at her feet.

'Absolutely,' Ozpin smiled. 'and so am I, believe it or not. At the same time though, I'm looking at this whole ordeal from an opportunist's perspective. There is no possible way for us to know all the implications that there are with the two planets merging, but I think that it is pragmatic to take action and make a potentially perilous situation a more favourable one. Do you not agree with this sentiment?'

'I do Professor Ozpin, and I still trust your judgement, but can we at least have everyone gather and see if they're still willing to do this? Team CFVY and Team ABRN weren't even at the discussion last night, so they have no idea that this is even a thing.'

'Of course.' said Ozpin. 'Please do not think for a second that I thought these plans were final, Glynda.'

'I didn't Ozpin…' Goodwitch sighed.

'Shall we re-join everyone else now back in the town centre?' Ozpin suggested.

Goodwitch nodded. 'Yes Professor Ozpin.'

'Thank you for letting me explain my thought process.' said Ozpin warmly.

'And thank you as well for allowing me to express my concerns.'

'I am a flawed man, Glynda, who makes countless errors and decisions with poor judgement. I am still flattered that you trust me so much, but your heedfulness is a healthy reminder of my shortcomings.'

* * *

Team CFVY and Team ABRN were briefly lectured on what the plan was, without the backstories of Pantheon, Shen or Ryze.  
'How are we going to handle this then?' said Ironwood once they had all gathered. 'What preparations do we need to take?'

'Let's start by establishing who's actually going and who's staying.' said Ozpin. 'It isn't necessary for everyone to go. Some should go to Runeterra, whilst the rest should remain in Remnant.'

'As I said yesterday Ozpin, I will go to the school and provide help there. Aatrox must be kept under wraps.' said Pantheon.

'We're going to Runeterra.' said Ruby fervently.

'Us too.' said Jaune.

'We're probably needed at Beacon, in that case.' said Coco. 'I'm sure that you guys are enough. We don't even know exactly what we would be getting ourselves into, since we weren't at your meeting last night.'  
The rest of Team CFVY nodded in agreement.

'What about the students that we don't have authority over?' Goodwitch brought up, referring specifically to Teams SSSN and ABRN.

'We'll happily go with you guys.' said Sun on behalf of his team.

'I think we'll go back to Beacon.' said Arslan. 'If SSSN are going to the new world, then we'll be redundant. Beacon needs enough manpower, and we're probably due to go back to Haven very soon.'

Ten minutes passed of long thought decision making. In the end, a conclusion was reached that Ozpin and Goodwitch would not go to Runeterra. Ironwood and Qrow would take charge of the students, alongside Shen and Ryze. Team CFVY and Team ABRN would return to Beacon, for they were the least willing to go, and had not been introduced to the idea until just then, whilst Teams RWBY, JNPR and SSSN had been aware of it even since SSSN's victory against NDGO in the Vytal Festival Tournament.

'James, are there any ships from your fleet that weren't destroyed?' Ozpin inquired.

'Yes, as a matter of fact. There are airships similar to this one,' Ironwood gestured to the one that had taken them to the village. 'which I had docked approximately ten miles north of Beacon.'

'Do you have any that are big enough to carry food and supplies, in addition to those going to Runeterra?'

'I most certainly do, Ozpin.'

'Would you mind then if we borrow this smaller vessel and take it to Beacon. I think it would be wise to approach the school from above, so that we can see the state of it, as well as Aatrox.'

'Very well, Ozpin. You can take this ship. I trust that you can pilot it yourself?'

'I think I'll manage.'

'If you crash it, you're paying for a new one.' Ironwood said, half serious – half jokingly.

* * *

Roman Torchwick flicked his lighter and ignited a cigar. He was feeling fresh from a wash and a visit to his wardrobe, but his mood and humiliation had not yet been healed. The mere sight of anything red made him twitch in annoyance. As he sat on a wooden chair inside an impromptu hideout on the outskirts of North Vale, with the colours of Mercury and Emerald as his company, an uncanny sense of gratefulness flowed through his veins.  
Ruby Rose had interfered with his plans _three times_ now. She had been a mild inconvenience, and admittedly fun to toy with, but the last occasion had been one time too many. To make matters worse, Neo was still missing, and he had no signs of where she could be. He squeezed his lighter tightly without realising it, and it popped upwards, out of his hand and fell to the ground, making a clattering sound.  
Mercury and Emerald, who were sitting on the opposite side of the small room, looked up from their laps and starred directly at Torchwick.  
Torchwick picked it up and put it back into his white coat pocket. He cleared his throat before finally addressing them after minutes of silent. 'Fancy seeing you kids here.' he said, readopting his pompous manner.

'It's a pleasure to see you too.' Emerald replied impudently. 'What happened to you on the night the Beacon Tower fell? I thought you were locked up in one of Ironwood's ships.'

'Neo busted me out. I then had some fun with the ships controls and turned them on their brethren, but it was cut short by a _pest_.'

'Ruby?'

'Little Red: yes. I swear, if I see her pretty little face again, I will personally choke her with her own cape!'

'Oh come on, was it really that bad? What did she do this time that you obviously couldn't handle?' Mercury asked insolently.

'It's not that she's impossible to deal with. On the contrary, she's a pushover.'

'I doubt it, considering how short-tempered you've become.' Mercury remarked.

'Quiet, you little punk. She's like a fly that keeps circling over your lunch and won't go away, and nothing more.'

'Just flatten it, and the problem's solved then.' Mercury sneered as he put his hands behind his head.

'Red was not the _only_ complication.' Torchwick said loudly, reasserting his dominance in the conversation. 'As we were brawling on this ship, something large tore through it and terminated the fight early.'

'Large? Oh, you're talking about the red monster?' Emerald asked.

'I didn't see whatever it was properly, but I _certainly_ heard it.'

'We did. It was a ginormous sword-wielding beast, with wings and a craving to destroy everything around it. We think it referred to itself as "Aytrox".'

'"Aytrox".' Torchwick repeatedly muttered the name under his breath a few times. 'Did you see what happened to it in the aftermath?'

'We don't know for sure what happened, but the wreckage of the school, as well as Aytrox, suddenly turned golden and were essentially frozen. After that, we left because there was nothing else we could do.'

'And where did you go afterwards exactly?'

Emerald hesitated before saying anything. She looked in Mercury's direction, as if she hoped that he would speak instead, but he kept his lips tightly closed. 'To Salem…'

Torchwick flicked off the burnt ashes of his cigar. 'So..? Would you care to elaborate?'

'She held a meeting. Everyone was there. We discussed how pleased Salem was with the success of the Beacon Tower falling, the current state of Remnant, and… Aytrox.' Emerald said, purposefully omitting anything regarding Salem's disappointment, the ninja who had bested them, or Zoe.

Unsurprisingly, Torchwick detected the equivocation his Emerald's tone. 'It couldn't have been that simple.' he said firmly. 'No one fully understands Salem, but I know a fibber when I hear one. I was not born yesterday: there is no possible way that she was "pleased" with what happened that night overall.'

'How would you know?' Mercury interrupted. 'All you did was play on a ship, whilst _we_ saw the fight up-close.'

Torchwick snapped his fingers in frustration. It was true that he had contributed very little to the battle. And judging by their injuries, they weren't lying about this. But he knew how to use this against them. 'I can see that you two wound up in combat, but for what reason?'

'What do you mean?' Emerald asked, unsure of where Torchwick was going with this observation.

'If I remember correctly from our original plan, you two were spies, posing as students from Haven. Who then, were you fighting? Surely, if agents assault the people they're supposed to be spying on, they've given the game away. Your broken noses and your pair of crutches' he pointed at Mercury's pair on the floor next to him. 'tell me that you blew your cover. Riddle me that, why don't you?'

Mercury interjected once again. 'Ah, but contrary to what you said, Salem was the one who insisted that we should actively get more involved and not watch as spectators.'

'Grr.' Torchwick grumbled. ' _Fine_ , but who did you lose to?'

'We didn't _lose_.' Emerald said indignantly.

'Transparent as ever.' Torchwick said, suppressing a snigger. 'You're defensive: it's plain as daylight. So just spit it out.'

Emerald sighed. 'Just for your information, it was not someone affiliated with Ozpin, we did not provoke him.'

'Do go on.'

'It was a ninja, but with powers far exceeding a normal semblance, and whom we believe comes from another world.'

Torchwick snorted. 'I'm not that credulous, as we just established. You expect me to believe that an alien _ninja_ came and randomly attacked you?'

'It's true.' Mercury stressed. 'Salem will confirm it.'

'Will she really?' Torchwick jeered.

'Yes, she will.' Emerald said bitterly. 'Besides, we have undeniable proof of the fact that he was from another world.'

'Show it and don't just say it then.'

'You've noticed the sudden appearance of the new moon, and how day and night has become longer, right?'

'I have.'

'And the appearance of Aytrox?

'Yes…'

'While we were at the conference, we had an unexpected guest.'

'And who might that have been?'

'It's… a bit difficult to describe what she was like. Umm…'

'I can tell you're trying to fabricate something.' Roman taunted.

'I'm not. She was a young girl, with cosmic-looking hair. She could create portals and summon or send stuff through them: it was so unbelievable.'

'That probably explains why I feel very sceptical right now about whatever comes out of your mouth.'

'Roman, just… please, I'm begging for the sake of the three of us, just let me finish.'

Torchwick picked up on the seriousness in Emerald's tone. 'Alright, conclude your testimony then.'

'She strolled into the room, had a fixation on some sort of cake, and really wanted us to play a game with her. She also was apparently listening on the discussion, because she knew that we were talking about the state of Remnant. After toying with us, she confirmed that it was _she_ who brought the moon to our own, and has also merged the planet she comes from, with Remnant – I _know_ , it's almost impossible to believe.' she said quickly as Torchwick snorted once again. 'But if you saw this girl for yourself, you would be more inclined to believe it. She was defying gravity, jumping between portals, and even managed to send the scorpion Faunus somewhere far away. I promise you, if you asked Salem, Cinder, or anyone else there, they would tell you the exact same thing.'

Torchwick flicked more ashes off his cigar. 'You know what, I'll just take your word for it.' he shrugged. 'Speaking of Cinder, where is she?'

'She said that she wanted some time to recover.'

'From what?'

'The ninja beat the three of us, singlehandedly. Cinder was about to kill Pyrrha, but he saved her at just the last second. Salem was not only disappointed with that, but also at how we had not been able to keep the Grimm under control. Things didn't really go according to plan. Cinder wasn't able to present the broadcast, and the Grimm Dragon from Mountain Glenn was killed by Aytrox. We don't know what happened to the White Fang or their leader who Cinder hired. We didn't get the Relic, or the Maiden either. The only accomplishments achieved were the evacuation of the city, the General's forces being diminished significantly, and the Beacon Tower falling. But even then, Aytrox was the one that broke it down.'

Torchwick sighed. 'Never mind... at least the CCTS has been disabled, and Remnant should be in a state of chaos right about now. This isn't unsalvageable, we just need to cut down the rest of the pillars.'

'Easier said than done.' Mercury commented.

'I don't need lip from you.' said Torchwick. 'Things may not be looking great, but we can move onto the next stage of the plan. It seems like we can't get the Relic or the Maiden at the moment, but we don't need them to take down the other pillars. Mistral is our next prime target, and we can make a move there without the White Fang, since all the attention is currently on Beacon.'

'How are we going to Mistral though?' Emerald asked. 'We don't have any means of getting there without aircraft.'

'Hence why we've come here.' said Torchwick. 'You know, I'll admit that I was extremely grateful to see you in Mountain Glenn. I was running off my gut feeling that you would eventually find yourself back there.'

'I'm flattered.' said Mercury with a hint of a smug grin.

'Yes, I commended a brat like _you_.' Torchwick said as he pointed his cigar at Mercury's broken nose. 'Anyway, remember what I said when we set off? I happen to know that the General has some of his ships not too from here. If we can get inside the facility, they're ours.'

'Assuming it's not being guarded by the military.' Emerald pointed out.

'I'm a gambling man, as you know. If we see that we can't just waltz in, we'll back off and either try again another time, or find another way to get to Mistral. I'm betting though that there won't be any Atlesian Military there. We were lucky to find this flimsy shack so close to the area with no one around, but I think we've had enough time to catch up. Let's get on with our job.'

'Oh, by the way, where's Neo?' Emerald asked.

'I have no idea.' Torchwick replied quietly. 'Red sent her flying away off the ship I was on...'

* * *

The sun shone brightly above their heads, yet the weather was surprisingly cold. Shivers swam down their backs as they emerged from the shack.  
It was difficult for Mercury to move with his crutches, so Torchwick and Emerald held onto him as they moved towards the General's grounded fleet.  
'Why do your legs weigh so much?' Torchwick asked. 'How do you fight with those damn things?'

'It comes with practice.' Mercury responded casually. 'Or maybe it's just that you're weak.'

Torchwick growled but made no return. Although he was annoying, Mercury was on his side, and the same task awaited both of them.

Their destination came into view. As Torchwick had predicted, the area, although fenced off with only a small entrance, was devoid of any people. A variety of different aircraft stood before them. Some were bigger, whilst others were much larger.  
'We don't need anything too pretentious.' said Torchwick. 'Just something that will take us from A to B.'

'It wouldn't hurt to have something moderately comfortable though.' said Mercury.

'I don't want it to be difficult to pilot. I'm the one handling this, remember?'

'Just a suggestion.' Mercury shrugged. 'I'd kinda like some seats to rest my legs.'

'If the Military come back here, they're more likely to notice that one of their more expensive ships is missing. If we take a smaller one, there's less chance of us being found.'

'C'mon Roman, communication has been significantly butchered, and we'll be long gone before anyone notices anything. Besides, it'd be useful to have extra space, in case we need it in the long run.'

Torchwick sighed. 'Okay, fine. We'll take something better suited for your precious needs.'

'I knew you'd see it my way.' said Mercury with a complacent smile.

The sight of one with three rows of seats inside and windows to look out of caught their attention. It almost seemed out of place: a commercially designed ship amongst a cage of militant ones, albeit it was painted the same dull grey colour as every other one. It wingspan was also particularly small for its size.  
The three of them pulled the side door open and stepped inside. The seats weren't first-class, but were at least cushioned. It had clearly been designed for people of higher ranks. At the back of the cabin was a wide door, which opened into the cargo hold. There was a dark grey, big metallic container already inside at the back end. Torchwick approached it and threw the lid off. Nothing.

'I like this.' said Mercury. 'Let's take this one.'

Torchwick shook his head. 'It's too excessive.' he said firmly. 'I don't want to pilot it and get caught. I'd rather that we stay inconspicuous with something smaller.'

'That's funny, coming from you Mr fancy pants.' said Mercury.

'I may like class, but I _also_ like to be off the radar.' said Torchwick, who held back the urge to whack Mercury with his cane. 'Forget about this one, we've finding something more manageable.'

Torchwick stepped out of the ship and looked around to see if he could spot something better suited to their needs.

He froze and starred wide-eyed at the entrance to the facility. 'Get back inside!' he said in a panic before scrambling through the doorway.

* * *

General Ironwood, Qrow, Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Team SSSN, Ryze and Shen all marched into the facility. They were carrying various wooden crates, with the teams holding bigger ones that required two people to hold them. Once they were all inside the area, the crates could be put down and their arms could relax.

Ironwood analysed his surroundings. He had one particular ship in mind. 'Aha, there it is.' said he and pointed towards a ship designed to transport multiple people in relative comfort. 'This ship has enough space in the back to store all of our supplies, and enough seats for us all to sit down.'

'Sounds perfect.' said Ruby.

'Alright guys, let's get it loaded up.' Qrow ordered.

As they approached it, Ironwood noticed that the door wasn't sealed. 'Huh, that's strange…'

'Something wrong, Jim?' Qrow asked.

'The door's wide open…'

'Ahh, I'm sure it's nothing. Someone probably just forgot to close it when they left here.'

The General was not convinced, but decided not to overthink it. 'Yeah, you're probably right.' He stepped on-board and investigated the ship. It seemed untouched. He walked towards the cargo hold and opened the door. 'Okay everyone, put all the supplies here. Then we'll be ready to leave.'

'Hey, there's some stuff already in here.' said Qrow, pointing towards a dark-grey container at the back.

'It's empty.' said Ironwood. 'We keep weapons inside there usually, but all of my men took them away into the battle. It's designed to withstand a lot of force, in case the ship crashes.'

The process of loading went smoothly – their crates fitted snuggly into the hold.

Ironwood cleared his throat as he closed the door to the ship. 'Okay everyone, I just need to say a few things and lay down some rules. Because this is my ship, I want everyone to be well behaved. The journey will be very long, no doubt, so refrain from jumping about. Shout and have fun if you want, but don't be too loud. Food and drink are in the crates closest to the cargo door. If you need anything, just go in and grab something, but try not to have too much: we need to make it last the whole way. I will be manning the cockpit, with Qrow providing assistance if needed. You can talk to me, but try to not preoccupy me for too long: since I need to concentrate. Finally, it's a bit late to be asking this, but if anyone here has changed their mind, and does not wish to go forth with this mission, please raise your hand now.

None left their sides.

'Very well then, it seems that we're ready to go. Please take a seat everyone. Ryze, Shen, do you know where the nearest landmass is in Runeterra?'

'The most eastern point of Runeterra would be Ionia.' said Shen.

'West would be the Freljord, which is not a feasible option to land in.' said Ryze.

'So I take it that I have to go west to get to Ionia?' Ironwood asked.

'I suppose so.' said Shen, nodding his head. 'And what is the continent furthest to the west in Remnant.'

'That would be Western Vale and the Kingdom of Vacuo.' Ironwood replied.

'Once we make it past the coastlibe and begin to cross the ocean, do you want me to help you navigate, since Ionia is my homeland and I'll know where to direct you?'

'That would be very much appreciated. Thank you, Shen.' said Ironwood, shaking his hand in exactly the same way they had done in the abandoned village.

'Alright, let's do this then!' said Ruby excitedly.

'Yeah, this is gonna be great!' Nora exclaimed.

'Nora, please keep yourself in check.' said Ren, holding both of her shoulders firmly.

'Oh yes, of course. Ironwood needs to concentrate.' she said, just as eager, but quieter.

'Are you okay, Ryze?' Blake asked, conscious of how these teens might get on his nerves.

'Yeah, I'm fine.' he said without a hue of irritability – a good sign so far. 'I might try and sleep, but don't worry about me. I'm slowly getting more used to you guys and your company. Believe you me, that's a compliment.'

A general talk about the adventure ahead of them filled the cabin, garnished with enthusiasm.

It was time. Ironwood ignited the engine. He waited for it to heat up before levitating it upwards and piloting it westwards to Ionia.

* * *

'You _idiot!_ ' Torchwick hissed through gritted teeth. 'Now look what you've done: we're trapped in the cargo hold, heading somewhere we don't even want to go!'  
The odour of tobacco filled the container. Torchwick, Mercury and Emerald were squished together like sardines in a small tin can. They had only just been able to hear what Ironwood had said from where they hid, but some of the names of places mentioned, they did not recognise.

'What does it matter?' Mercury said, his puerile attitude had vanished. 'If we'd made a decision any quicker, they would've caught us taking off. We were screwed anyways.'

'He's got a point.' said Emerald. 'We just so happened to come here at the wrong time.'

'If we hadn't been dancing around inside this ship, we could've easily hid behind another one!'

'Let's just calm down.' Emerald said with a level head. 'If we just hide here for the whole journey, they'll land and are bound to get off and go somewhere, leaving the ship unattended.'

'I sure hope it's not a long journey then. I'm already aching.' Mercury groaned.

'Maybe we can see if there's any space behind the supplies, where we can sit more comfortably.' Emerald suggested.

'Everyone, keep quiet, and see if the coast is clear.' Torchwick ordered.  
It was harder to hear anything over the noise of the engine, and none of the conversations in the cabin could be discerned.

'I'm gonna go for it.' whispered Emerald. She gently raised the lid and looked downwards. 'Yeah, there's just about enough room for us to sit here. C'mon.'  
Emerald climbed out, gently placed herself on the floor and shuffled to the left, to let the other two out.

Torchwick did the same and removed his bowler hat, shifting to the right.

Mercury awkwardly stumbled out. He landed clumsily on the floor.

The door to the cargo hold immediately opened, and the three of them tenses their muscles.

'There's not much sweet stuff in here!' said a loud voice.

'Just get some fruit out, Nora. That's sweet enough.' someone replied.

'Okay Ren, I've got some apples.'  
Nora placed the lid back on top of the crate and closed the hold door.

They all took a deep breath; their hearts were pounding exceptionally fast.  
'Can you possibly be any more of a burden?' Torchwick said bitterly.

'Shut up!' Mercury snapped back. 'I can't help it with my legs being in the state they are.'

'If you're the one who ends up getting us caught, I will make you swallow and digest a powerful Dust crystal!'

'Shhh, guys, keep it down.' Emerald whispered. 'What are we gonna do about food?' she brought up.

'You guys can climb over there to the crates at the front and bring some here.' said Mercury.

'No we are not.' said Torchwick ardently. 'That's a gamble we are definitely not taking. It's too big a risk; we'll be spending so much time exposed.'

'Emerald, could you not make an illusion in case they come in whilst we're looting for food?' Mercury asked.

'I can manage one head, but two is a stretch. There's no way that I can deceive all of them at once.'

'Also, they'll notice that some of the food is disappearing.' Torchwick added. 'Sorry guys, but food is out of the question on this ride.'

'This is lower than one-star service.' Mercury said, somewhat flippantly.

'We won't starve, we'll just be rather hungry.' said Torchwick. 'Let's just wait until we land.'

'What do we do once we arrive?' Emerald asked. 'We don't know where we're gonna end up and what we'll be able to do for there.'

'We'll worry about that when the time comes. Just be ready to get back into the container.' Torchwick instructed, eyeing Mercury as he said that. 'Alright kids, prepare for the most boring journey of your lives.'

* * *

'How much further until we get to Ionia?' Ironwood asked Shen. Seven hours had passed on their peregrination through the skies.

'It's a bit difficult to tell with no point of reference and only a rough estimate of how big the planet is, but just keep going slightly north of west for now.'

Patience was a virtue that not everyone on board the ship possessed. Seven hours was nothing to Ryze, and but for those who were more hyperactive, they were bored, and so many games of eye-spy or charades could only keep their minds occupied for a limited period of time.

Ten more minutes were overtaken before Shen said – with more vigour than usual – 'There it is: Ionia.'

Though it was a blur in the distance, it was undisputedly land.  
Ruby ran up to the cockpit and looked over Shen's arm. 'We're here!' she said.

'About time.' said Sun.

'Yeah, I was starting to wonder if we'd ever find solid, dry land.' said Neptune, breathing a sigh of relief.

'Let's see then.' said Shen. 'Lower the ship, so I can see more clearly where we can land.'

The clear blue sky began to darken. Clouds emerged from thin air, and drowned out the gorgeous view of Ionia's natural landscape. Heavy rain suddenly poured out from above, deluging Ironwood's line of sight.  
A bolt of lightning struck the sea below, followed by a thunderous boom – miraculously not hitting them.

'What's going on?' Ironwood questioned.

'I'm not sure. Go lower.' Shen ordered.

A larger fork of lighting shot the sea, with an even louder boom.

' _Who dares to invade Ionia's sacred land?!_ ' roared a deafening voice.

'What was that?' Ironwood said, now shaking.

'I'm not sure...' Shen replied.

Ironwood gripped the wheel tightly. 'What should I do?!' he said in a frenzy.

'Turn around, and go back.' Shen commanded.

The ship was incredibly awkward to rotate, especially in the now tumultuous storm.

' _Where do you think you're going?!_ ' boomed the voice. Something descended from the clouds. Ironwood gasped: a blue dragon. With a lengthy, spine-like body, hands which surged with lightning, yellow horns, blue eyes and an incredibly long, white beard.

'What is that thing?!' Ironwood yelled.

Ryze jumped up from his seat. He moved towards the cockpit, along with everyone else. They squeezed together, wanting to see what had stirred in anger at their presence.

'No, that can't be… I thought it was just a myth.'

'What is it?!' Qrow demanded.

'The fabled Storm Dragon: Ao Shin.'

Ao Shin flew directly towards them: its face fuelled by distaste. ' _Depraved technology! You shall pay for your transgression of the natural harmony!_ '  
There was no possible way of evading Ao Shin's assault. It grabbed the ship with its fingers. Lightning built up in its fingertips before releasing the charge. The engine beneath the ship was cut out, and exploded. Only the reinforced floor saved them from the blast.  
' _Be discharged, then scatter!_ '  
A black cloud swirled into being above Ao Shin. It threw the ship into the cloud. It spun and spun in a violent spiral, carried by a tornado which Ao Shin blew upwards.

The ship disintegrated, leaving everyone helplessly spinning in mid-air. One by one, the tornado relinquished its oppressive hold on each person. They all flew in directions, faster than a speeding bullet: all of them screamed in terror and pain.

As the last one was released, Ao Shin stopped blowing and let his fury subside.


	22. Four Voyages Unfold

**Chapter 22** – Four Voyages Unfold

Swain stood on the balcony overseeing the city of Noxus once again. He had thought long and hard about the potential annexation of Vacuo. Four days had passed since he had discovered the new world through his demonic eye, and all the possibilities danced around him. His patriotism was telling him that it was an ambitious task: one worthy of the Noxian Empire, but the pragmatism he had harnessed over the years warned him of the unknown risks that came with this prospect. Would they make it to the new world before running out of supplies? What were the weather conditions like that far out as sea? Did the natives of Vacuo have enough military power to defend itself to the point where Noxus would be driven out? Most of importantly of all though: was it even worth the investment? If they were successful, it would be a new milestone for Noxus, pushing its reputation even further up. But if it was a failure, so many resources would be wasted. The invasion of Ionia was a prime example of risk versus reward.

Swain also recalled a failed expedition to the Serpentine Delta Jungle. Ysard Tomari had been an imprudent captain, who saw the expansion of Noxus and her own name as more important than the safety of her crew and the indispensability of well thought-out decision making. She and her ship had never returned after they set out on their expedition – presumably they had succumbed to a fate unbeknownst to anyone who knew Tomari.

Rumours of Noxus going east across the seas had circulated throughout the whole city, to the point where everyone assumed that the plan had already been confirmed.  
Ultimately though, the decision was in Swain's demonic hand. The governors had some say in the matter, and Swain could always turn to them for advice, but the final say had to come from his commandment and no one else's.

* * *

'Have you made a decision then?' said Alyssa in the audience chamber. Swain, Darius and the hooded figure, who were all present at the last meeting, were there too.

'I have.' said Swain with no trace of emotion in his voice. 'We're going.'

'To Vacuo?' Darius asked.

'Yes.' said Swain.

'So, what's the plan?' the Alyssa asked. 'How do go about organising this whole thing?'

'On a mission as challenging as this one, we mustn't discard anything we may need. This will include manpower, weapons, ships, food and supplies. I say that we take no less than two thousand soldiers, and at least ten loaded ships.'

'Is that not a bit excessive?' Alyssa asked.

'Not in the slightest.' said Swain authoritatively. 'That is the _minimum_ number of people who are going. Who's to say what Vacuo has perched at its borders?'

'How many is ideal then, if that's the smallest number you wish to gather?'

'Two thousand – five hundred is a safer number, I reckon.'

'Okay, that's fine. I'm just worried, because we need enough military presence to remain here to keep Noxus safe.'

'This mission is not known public to any other nation. We aren't under threat by anyone.'

Alyssa nodded her head. 'Alright General. I'm merely expressing my concerns.'

'You are young, Alyssa, but your concerns show that you do think before jumping: a quality that is very good to possess. Be assured of that.'

'Yes Sir.'

Swain turned his attention to Darius. 'Now then, Darius, I want you to go to the Delverhold and round up as many troops as you can.'

'Very well.' said Darius gruffly. 'There are around seven hundred soldiers there. How many of them should I recruit?'

'Take four hundred. Three hundred should be enough to protect the fortress from the Winter's Claw, should they come and attempt to the steal any resources.'

Darius beat his chest with his axe wielding hand. 'You make no mistake, General.' he said.

Swain faced the hooded figure. 'I want you to find Miss Du Couteau and bring her here.'

'Which one?' she asked. 'The younger or the older one?'

'Katarina.' Swain confirmed. There was pinch of disbelief in his tone, as though he was saying: _"Isn't it obvious?"_

'Of course, General.'

'And Alyssa, you are going to head to the west perimeters of the walls and order warmasons and Capital dwelling infantries to come to the east coast immediately. Tell them to bring some Drake-Hounds too. If they question your authority, say that you have direct orders from me.'

'Yes General.'

'As everyone comes together, we'll accumulate as much food and weaponry as we can. And one last thing: someone will need to become to substitute leader of Noxus while I am away.'

Alyssa looked at Swain, puzzled. 'You're… going too?'

'Of course. Age and injuries do not stand between me and Noxus. I want to set foot on Vacuo's soil for myself, and I would not ask of anyone what I would not do myself. Someone must assume the role of leading the Capital, and I have my mind on two individuals in particular who I would consider appointing.'

'Who might they be?' the hooded figure asked.

'My mind first turned to General Du Couteau, and I think he would be a competent leader. But, I think that someone who is... less blinded by self-image.' Swain's eyes darted to Alyssa.

'Me?' she asked, perplexed, pointing at herself.

'The ardour of a young Noxian is a sight to behold. Never before have I ever seen someone as youthful as you be so devoted to the Trifarix. This could be a very optimistic way of thinking, but I believe that putting a heavy task on your shoulders at such a young age will force you to become a true Noxian. Your heart and your body in the right place: we just need to move your brain their too. Do you think you can handle such a responsibility?'

'I… I think so.' Alyssa said, shocked at the idea of her being the leader of a nation.

'Confidence is a trait that you _must_ possess to be a true Noxian. It looks like you need to work on that.' said Swain sternly.

'Oh, I mean: Yes, absolutely. I am up for the task.'

'I sure do hope so.'

'How long will you be gone for?' Alyssa asked.

'It depends on how long the expedition takes and how long we stay there. It will be a long-term goal to establish a colony in Vacuo, but this will take time, and will most likely require journeys back and forth across the sea. Unless things are disastrous, I will return. But at any time I am in Vacuo, you shall be in charge of Noxus.'

Alyssa managed to stop herself from gulping. The thought of ruling Noxus was exciting, but also terrifying. If Swain never returned, she would become to actual General of Noxus.

'Now, let's not sit here any longer. If the process goes smoothly, we could be ready to set off today.'

'Today?' Darius asked. 'That isn't much time, isn't it?'

'Have you not yet noticed that the hours of the day have increased?'

'Ah, yes. Forgot about that…' Darius slapped himself on the head.

They all stood up and left the chamber.  
Darius was the first out: he had to travel rather far out on horseback to get to Delverhold and back.  
The hooded figure knew that Katarina lived not too far outside of the Capital's walls, but still left at a pace.

Swain and Alyssa walked out together, but left a gap between them as they went.

'I hope I don't regret this decision.' said Swain.

'You won't, General. I promise.' Alyssa responded.

'Nothing can be certain when Noxus' future is involved. Decisions have consequences. This I know well, and I hope that you will maintain Noxus' pride for as long as I am gone.'

'Even if I do get overthrown, does this not show that someone is more fitting to rule than I am? Is that not what your philosophy is too?' Alyssa asked.

'That is true, but I do not want a selfish person taking the helm of Noxus. Anyone who serves in Noxus, serves the nation before themselves. This is why I am confident in bestowing my role to you, Alyssa. Who else killed her own brother and betrayed her own father for the benefit of the nation? Remember what I said to you: "Duty to the empire must always overshadow duty to family."'

'I do remember that.' said Alyssa. 'And I will never forget those words. I live by them like I do by bread and water.'

Swain smiled. 'Then Noxus is yours. Congratulations.'

'Thank you, General.' said Alyssa, reciprocating Swain's rare gesture of sincerity.

* * *

The Noxian docks were clustered with activity. It was late in the afternoon, but enough sunlight was present. Ten massive ships were parked by the long wharf. Citizens were donating food, cargo, clothes and supplies were loaded on the ships by hundreds of Noxians, and five Drake- Hounds were wrangled into cages. The commanders of each battalion had a list with the names of their soldiers and were checking that everyone was present: Darius was overseeing all of them.

The hooded figure had arrived earlier, escorting Katarina with her. Katarina was a renowned assassin of Noxus. She was beautiful, but ruthless with a seemingly endless pocket of short blades: deadly towards anyone who let their guard down for even a split-second.  
She made herself useful by joining in on the loading of the ships.

Kled was there too, barking orders at everyone who passed him, which only amounted to "Keep doing what you're doing.", but in a belligerent delivery.

Alyssa stood by Swain, on board the fifth ship, which was closest to the centre and allow them to keep an eye on everything.

The process was hectic, but the synergy of cooperation and unity of Noxians enabled it to be quicker and smoother than expected.

Once all the soldiers were registered, Darius scouted the docks until he spotted a ridiculous hair style atop an uncanny looking head.  
His younger brother Draven was comprised of four things: ten percent executioner, ninety percent showman, one hundred percent egotism and one hundred percent **CRITS** _ **.**_ Darius and Draven had grown up together, but unlike Darius' satisfaction for serving in the army for Noxus, Draven sought attention and a reason to swagger around the streets with pride. After the former executioner of Noxus, Urgot, was lost to an ambush in Zaun, Draven took the occupation as his own, and puts onlookers in shock with how precise and infallible he is at killing his prisoners with his signature throwing axes, _after_ giving them a chance to flee.  
Darius did not really approve of his brother's choice of lifestyle – thirsting for praise and recognition over duty. But one thing was indisputable: Draven was damn good at his job, so why fix what isn't broken?

Draven saw Darius approach. He ran his right hand through his hair and gave the older brother a smug visage.

'I'll say goodbye for now.' said Darius with no real emotion – indifference, if anything.

' _Pfft_ , don't feel sad. I won't miss you. I've got everything I need right _here_.' He hand gestured his whole body.

'Yourself?'

'Perfection.'

'Forget I asked…'

'Don't be jealous, there's no following my footsteps. Especially not when you blend in with everyone else in battle, whilst I'm the star of my own show, _hahaha_.'

'I serve for thousands of people. You serve yourself, Draven.'

'Not Draven, _Draaaaven_.'

'Ugh. Whatever… I'll be back eventually. Just take care, alright?' He opened his arms. Draven returned the brotherly affection. 'Noxus will rise and expand on this trip.' said Darius. 'If we take any prisoners… maybe we'll send them to you.'

'Giving foreigners a bit of Draven, _hahaha_. I like the sound of that.'

Darius sighed. 'Goodbye, little brother.' he said.

'So long, inferior brother.'

' _Grr_.' Darius returned to the ships. Swain was about to deliver his orders through a speech.

'Listen to me everyone!' he said loudly. All eyes and ear immediately homed in on the General. It was unusual hearing Swain shout, but it was necessary to catch everyone'd attention and make sure they could hear him. 'You were all given short notice on what we are doing, but if I am not mistaken, the rumours have spread like wildfire either way, so this should not be entirely a shock. You are all Noxians, and you act upon command as much as you act upon preparation.'

The crowd murmured momentarily, but instantly fell silent at Swain's imperious gaze.

'Before I go on, let me introduce Alyssa Roshka Gloriana val-Lokan, who shall be the stand-in General of Noxus whilst I am gone.'

Alyssa forced herself to don a face of iron. She wasn't sure if she should say anything, so she instead gave a confident wave. To her relief, the crowd appeared to take this announcement warmly.

'Let me clarify exactly what is happening.' Swain continued. 'Some of you are probably aware by now that some new land has been discovered. It is not marked on any known map, so Noxus is interested in commandeering this place and making it a property of our own!'

Cheers spewed from the crowd and decayed over a few seconds.

Swain resumed. 'It is not entirely clear how far away this land is, but we know that it is beyond Ionia's and Bilgewater's eastern waters, so the journey will be long, but an opportunity for Noxus to have more ownership of land overseas is too great of a deal to ignore. Everyone will play their part and be cooperative as we sail past southern Ionia and make our way over to the new land. You must all takes turns to clean the ships and cook food. Doctors are on-board each ship, so grab their attention if anyone falls ill. Any maintenance issues or damage should be attended as soon as possible. If there are any suspicions of mutiny, report it to the captain of each ship _immediately_. Have I made all that clear?'

A resounding "Yes, General." washed across the docks.

'Good. The full plan is as follows: firstly, we will travel to the Noxian port of Fae'lor in western Ionia. This shall be the first – and quite possible the only – stop on our journey. It'll be a place of respite. If we happen to arrive in the evening or at dark, we will spend the night and set off promptly in the morning. From then onwards, we're gambling with chance. Should anything go wrong whilst out at sea, we halt, see if we can deduce the problem, and make a beeline towards the nearest landmass that we know of.  
'If we successfully make it to the new land, the procedure is to approach cautious and see if we can sniff out any threats. If the coastline is uninhabited, we will offload what we need, gain control of the immediate area and then go inwards. Once we make our first contact with civilisation, our first approach will be tentative and demanding that they comply with our presence. If they resist, fuel your hearts with might and bring them to their knees. Should they be bold enough to use weapons against us, go a step further by raising your own and annex their territory. Do not hesitate to spill blood as a means of conquering the land. To redraw the map, the blood of soldiers and obstacles must be the ink. Remember that our ultimate goal is to establish a colony, subject the indigenous to our will and make it all a part of the Noxian _Empire_.'

The crowd cheered after he finished his sentence with vigour.

'But perhaps what is most important of all, be happy, be proud that you are involved in Noxus' most onerous operation to date: embarking further out than Noxus has ever been. Do not be frightened. There are risks, but a calculated risk is not a risk at all. Embrace your strengths, work together, have fun where you can, and bring glory back here.'

A chant of _'Noxus! Noxus!_ 'engulfed the heart of the Empire.

'No more waiting. Let's go!' Swain ordered.

It was tricky getting ever soldier and every member of the crew aboard the ships. So many of them with limited space, and they all had to decide amongst themselves who was to stay where.  
The first ship pulled out of the docks and the rest followed, leaving about twenty seconds between each departure.

As the last one made its way out onto the sea, those who remained began to disperse and return to their daily lives.

The hooded figure watched as Alyssa strolled out of the docks and back into the capital. She appeared very insouciant. The centre of the Empire was more vulnerable than ever, with its numbers diminished, and she had become the new primary target for anyone who had a grudge against Noxus. At face value and from a distance, the young woman did not appear to carry any of the three principles of strength. Swain had appointed her on the basis of improving her reasoning and to make her more knowledgeable on what it means to be a true Noxian, as he put it.

Perhaps that hypothesis needs to be tested.

* * *

Skarner felt his legs tire. He knew that he had to press on: his kin – though not aware of his undertaking – were counting on him. Being a Brackern was tough. His body was incredibly heavy and difficult to manoeuvre with ease.

The serendipitous epiphany of Dust had been the motivation that carried Skarner forward. Although it was a blind goal, he maintained the Brackern motto of learning through the journey of life, and reaching an end goal after the lesson has been delivered via experience. But even Skarner could not withstand the enervation of pushing oneself too hard. Thankfully, his crystal's energy replenished when it was not in use, whilst he slept.

It was midday. He felt the desire to sleep and to sing a song about the pains of being away from home. What if more raiders came back to his valley? Skarner did not know what the motivation of humans was for stealing the crystals, but conjectured that rapacity was at the core of their actions. Would they have learned their lesson from the last time Skarner had killed the marauders and left a few to run away? It was hard to tell. How could a Brackern know how a human's brain worked?

But the determined Brackern was not yet ready to stop. He had stopped for rests frequently, and on occasions had slept for more than a day. If Kalduga – the border between the Kumungu Jungle and the most north-eastern point of Shurima – entered his line of sight, he would be happy knowing that he had made so much progress.

Although he was almost completely unaffected by the scorching heat of the desert, he could definitely tell that the climate was becoming progressively cooler as he went further up north.

'I miss my kind.' he whispered, hoping that something – anything – would fill the longing in his heart: the longing to be with his family.

Pressing on, Skarner noticed the small increase to the steepness of the incline. The ground felt moister, the sand was dampened. 'Am I finally here?' Skarner asked himself.

He focused his eyes to the horizon. Green was emerging: a colour that Skarner had only ever seen in small quantities by the Valley of Song.  
Although the angle of the sun did not compliment the view, he thought that it was intriguing. And as he got closer, Skarner recognised this never before seen beauty. He had no word to give them, but the sight of them made his single tear fall from his left eye. 'If only they could see this for themselves…'

Skarner encroached closer and closer on the jungle's tall, thick trees. He could now admire the details of the leaves and the individual blades of grass. Pretty patterns of nature, stitched into every single one. Tiny flying insects pirouetted in the air, moving to no tune other than the pulchritude of the jungle.

He reversed to get a better look at the top of the trees. It was more difficult to tell from the ground, but the way they spread out was also a beauty to admire. 'If it's this magnificent on the outside, it must be even better on the inside.' Skarner thought to himself.

Skarner sensed a sound. He paused before entering the Jungle. It did not stem from inside. It grew increasingly louder. 'Above me…' He looked upwards in time to see something yellow rocket past him across the sky. It was omitting a relatively high pitched scream, but disappeared into the distance, as quickly as it had appeared, along with its cries, before Skarner could discern what it was. The yellow colour was very bright, but not the same as the sands: it was different from that. The sound it made suggested that it might've been a living thing. What could it be though? The Brackern had no contact with the organic world during their hibernation.  
Skarner recalled the marauders he had brawled with, some of them had made a similar noise. 'Humans don't fly though… do they?'

Something gently floated down, right into front of his eyes. A yellow strand of… 'What is that?' He could not pick it up with his claws, but knew it had dropped from the yellow blur.

He did not need to dwell on it though. It had flown south, and the speed it had travelled at implied that it have gone too far for it to be his business. 'I mustn't travel back. I am far into my task. It does not affect me, I think.'

No sooner had he shrugged off his curiosity, when another sound of a similar frequency found his ears. He looked in the same direct that the yellow thing had come from – now anticipating its approach.  
This time, two things flew overhead. A red thing, with an ever higher pitch than the yellow thing, shortly followed by a blue thing, which carried with it a scream with a deeper sound.

Skarner flexed his pincers and his stinger. He did not feel threatened by the blurs of colour, but he nonetheless was apprehensive. Were they being aimed at his home? Mostly likely not, judging by the angle at which they soared. 'I shall wait and see if more come.' He lowered himself to the ground and adjusted his eyes to see into the distance. A two minutes passed of no reoccurrence. 'This world is so strange…'

He lifted himself up. Whatever those things had been did not matter. 'This dense green is gorgeous. I will explore it and find my way to its end. Hopefully I will be closer to my crystals, or to Dust.'

The jungle was thick, and did not accommodate well for Skarner's large size, but luck showed him a wide clearing with a broad pathway, which led deeply inwards. He had no idea if Kalduga was harmless or hostile, but Skarner was ready for anything, if it meant saving his brethren. 'I press on.'

* * *

Garen Crownguard, stretched his arms and yawned as he sat on a seat, next to a table with four other soldiers, below deck. The journey beyond the Conqueror's Sea, across the west had been uneventful. Not that he had expected it to be otherwise, but he nonetheless yearned for the moment when they finally reached the new world – that was when the adventure of exploration truly began. Unlike the imperialism of Noxus, Demacia pursued only a grand discovery.

The Kingdom of Demacia was a proud one, fortified by its well-organised military, which Garen was always at the forefront of, and structures that were primarily made out of the compound stone of petricite: which absorbs magic, thus nullifying its effects.  
Whilst it is easy to view Demacia as a "good" nation, due to its rivalry against the "bad" Noxian Empire, many critique it for being a highly conservative one, with an unjustifiable prejudice against magic and its wielders. Anyone in Demacia, who is suspected to be a mage, is liable to be submit themselves for questioning and potentially be put in prison.  
Garen even suspected that his younger sister, Luxanna, possessed magical powers, but tried not to entertain the thought. He could not stomach the idea of his own sister being incarcerated for the very thing he fought against.

Demacia became aware of the unusual activity across the seas, not just by the earthquakes, but also based on eyewitnesses of the statue of Galio moving its own. Galio, was a _humongous_ monument, made of petricite, and would literally come to life in the presence of substantial amounts of magic. Although it was a stretch to suppose it, King Jarvan III of Demacia believed that something unfathomably big had taken place at sea. Garen had been the first to volunteer for an expedition, with his army showing interest too. Only a couple of days had passed before a ship, braced with a layer of petricite on the inside, and a sufficient number of supplies had been prepared.

Garen's legion of Demacian soldiers were a good old laugh and brilliant company, but also highly trained and formidable in battle. They had made his time on the ship far more bearable. One soldier had brought some games, including playing cards and a chess set with Demacia and Noxus as the white and black pieces, respectively. These held them over for some time, especially the chess board, where they had all role-played as either Demacia or Noxus, which had been quite entertaining and also made the game more competitive.

'You fancy something to eat, Garen?' said the soldier sitting on his left.

'No, thanks, Diadoro.' Garen replied, giving him a smile. 'I could do with some later, but I'm fine right now. Are you hungry?'

'A bit, yeah.'

'Try to pick from the barrel that's the most empty. It'd be good to keep the other stuff fresh for as long as possible.'

'Absolutely. Thank you, Garen. For Demacia!' he saluted.

Garen returned it. 'For Demacia!' and chuckled.

The soldier got up and went one deck below to the storage hold.

'Hey Garen, said the soldier on Garen's right. 'You don't suppose you could do one of your legendary, Demacian one-handed stands, could you.'

'Right now?'

'Yeah, we love seeing you do it, don't we guys?'

The other soldiers all nodded and agreed.

'Hmm, alright Bryn.' said Garen. He stood and stretched his fingers. 'Remember, don't try this at home.' he said jokingly.  
In a tremendous display, Garen threw his whole body into the air and caught himself with just his left palm. 'One… two… three… four… five…'

'Woah! Keep it up!'  
'Yeah, for Demacia!'

'Nine… ten… eleven… twelve… thirteen… fourteen… fifteen… sixteen…'

'More, more!'

'Fifty seven… fifty eight… fifty nine… sixty!'

'Yeah, bravo! The might of Demacia!'

Garen let his feet resume. He felt the blood run down his veins, back to his toes. 'Well, that was easy.' he laughed.

'Seriously, how do you do that?!' Bryn asked.

'With lots of practice.' said Garen. 'It took me years to be able to do even one, and even more to do five.'

'What's the maximum amount you've ever done?' asked the soldier opposite him.

'More than you can count.' Garen replied with a mild smirk.

'Garen! Sir!' Diadoro cried, running up the stairs.

'What is it?!' Garen questioned, who jumped up in alarm.

'It's Sabator! He's been… been…'

'Been what?! Tell me!' Garen demanded.

'Come and see!'

Diadoro led, Garen, Bryn and the other two soldiers down the stairs, heading towards the boxes of supplies.  
'I was just looking for a plate, and then I saw _this_!' he covered his eyes and pointed at a space just behind the boxes.  
Sabator: his body was mutilated and full of holes, and a cloth had been tied around his mouth.

Garen stared at what was left of Sabator before stumbling back in horror. 'Who did this!?' he yelled, addressing no one in particular.

They all looked around, wide-eyed with fear.

'Get out of here, now!' Garen ordered.

* * *

All thirty soldiers stood on the deck in a circle, save for the sailor operating the wheel. The hatch had been sealed shut.

'Who the last person to see Sabator?' Garen interrogated. He had briefly explained what had become of their poor comrade.

No one said anything.

'Alright, who was the last person to _speak_ with him?'

'That might have been be, Sir.' piped up a younger soldier.

'Winyl! When was this?! What did he say to you?!'

'It was late last night. We were both about to go to bed. He said that he wanted a quick bite to eat, so he left as I fell asleep.'

Garen clutched his head in anger. 'It can't be…'

'How did he even die? What would cause injuries like those, especially on this ship?' Bryn brought up.

Everyone fought their tongues. It was too ghastly for words.

'I don't know.' said Garen. 'But from now on, no less than two people go down to the storage hold.'

Murmurs went around the circle, with a mixture of emotions.

'Let us remember Sabator's name…' Garen bemoaned. 'He accompanied us on a bold journey. Let our courage not waver, but we shall have a brief moment of silence for our fallen hero. For Demacia…'

'Sabator. For Demacia…' everyone repeated.

Only the lapsing of the waves took vacancy in their ears as they mourned, followed by the sound of… birds chirping. Seagulls.

'Land!' the sailor at the wheel yelled abruptly.

The legion regained their awareness of being on a ship. A few of them ran to the front. Sure enough: the tip of a low, red cliff was in view.

Garen rubbed his eyes and walked up to the bow also. Right next to the red cliff was a shallow bank of sand, but nowhere to feasibly dock the ship. 'It's going to be awkward to stop here!' he called to the sailor.

'I'll try and turn around and put her parallel, starboard side!'

The manoeuvre very tricky, but the sailor had experience on his side. 'Everyone, stand at the bow, port side!' he commanded. 'Put your weight there!'  
It was working. The ship rotated gently around, slowly but surely until one hundred and eighty degrees had been made.  
'Now evenly on starboard! Go!'

It leaned right, and inched closer to the cliff. 'A little bit more…' said the captain. 'And… stop.'  
They returned to the centre of the ship, evening out their mass. 'Now deploy the anchors!'

Two soldiers lifted one anchor each and dropped them overboard. The ship was in place. They had arrived.  
The legion all cheered with delight.

'Yeah! Well done, Captain!'  
'We're here! We're finally here!'  
'For Demacia!' Diadoro shouted.

'For Demacia! For Demacia!' they all chanted.

A minute passed by for them to finally calm down. Garen raised his hand for silence. He cleared his throat. 'Well men, it looks like we made it. It's a shame that Sabator cannot experience the glory we feel right now, but let us forge onward, with his spirit in our hearts. Our deeds shape the future.'

'Yes.'  
'Absolutely.'

'I want ten people to stay behind and guard this ship.' said Garen. 'The rest of us will set off and explore this land. We shall not go too far without coming back here and reporting what we see. Let's get ready. For now, we will only take the lightest of weaponry and water.'

It did not take long for them to decide who was remaining and who was going: for it did not really matter. Only the sailor was adamant that he was staying.

The twenty explorers went to the storage hold, anxious to see if anything was there, ready to ambush them. They wrapped Sabator in a sheet and placed him back in the space where he was found.  
'He deserves a proper send-off…' said Diadoro.

'Yes…' said Garen. 'But we'll do that another time. We have a duty to fulfil.'

They climbed back to the deck, and threw a rope ladder over the side.

'Alright men, listen up.' said Garen once they were all on the beach. 'Stay alert. Be on the lookout for anything valuable or dangerous. Be cautious around any people or animals we encounter; do not provoke them if you can avoid it, and overall just make sure you're taking in your surroundings. If I we have any reason to return to the ship imminently, you retreat on my command. This is an alien world to us, so we dare not be sure of what is lurking here. Is everyone clear?'

The legion nodded and declared their positivity unanimously.

'Brilliant. Demacia marches as one!'

'Demacia!' everyone yelled proudly as they made their way off the beach and into the new world.

On board the ship, although nobody heard it, a sinister giggle was released in the storage hold. 'Let's see… whose life shall I run next?'

* * *

 **Ezreal's Field Notes**

 _ **Still Close to Home:**_

 _As of writing this, I'm still very much in Valoran's waters. I can tell though that it's the Guardian's Sea, based on how far I've come so far. When you're done as much exploring as I have, you become familiar with the geographical structure by just looking at it from a distance – it's a useful skill that most people underestimate and probably don't have._

 _Trannit has gone by, and Ironwater shouldn't be too far away. Well, actually, I know for sure that it isn't._

 _I had a look at some of Jayce's gadgets, and they are swell, still not as good as my gauntlet though. I'll probably find a use for this fishing kit later, and I am very happy with this radio that picks up on whatever music is being broadcasted nearby. Gives me something to do jumping jacks to._

 _Oh, and also, I heard this noise earlier before writing this. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but it sounded very "glittery" and "fairylike". I would've said that I was imagining it, but I heard it multiple times. However I haven't heard it since though, so it's probably nothing._

 _-Ez_

* * *

 **Ezreal's Field Notes**

 _ **Over Bilgewater:**_

 _Piltover's Council estimated that it would take me eighteen days to get from home to Bilgewater. Well it seems there calculations were a bit off, because I've only had eleven sunrises and sunsets so far. Maybe they were thinking in terms of the shorter days? I dunno, but either way, they weren't on the dot._

 _I can definitely tell that I'm north of it. In fact, I can smell that distinct odour of fish. I don't love it or hate it, it's just there._

 _Surprisingly, not a single boat has crossed paths with me. I mean, it's Bilgewater for goodness sakes. There should be people on the sea every hour of the day.  
Maybe that's a blessing in disguise though: I'd rather not get into a mess with anyone particularly salty. _

_Actually, this would be the perfect time to make a good catch. Any food for me is priceless at the moment. I hope this fishing kit isn't difficult to use, and I certainly hope that I don't catch something else that could throw me overboard.  
At least Jayce also provided me with this lighter and a tripod to cook on. _

_He's both good-looking AND smart: just like me, not that I really want to admit the former._

 _-Ez_

* * *

 **Ezreal's Field Notes**

 _ **Below Ionia:**_

 _You know, out of all the places I have visited, Ionia is not a part of my portfolio yet. That's a shame, considering all the fascinating thing's I've heard about it. I mean, I myself am not spiritual, but because it's such an integral part of their culture, maybe I would have a first-hand experience, and become a believer myself._

 _I've taken some photos with the camera that Jayce gave me, from the limited view I've got here, so they aren't clear, but they'll do for now._

 _I'd love to see Ionia's landscapes and eat their cuisine someday. I get it though that the native's don't take too kindly to people from Valoran: especially those who bring technology along with them, and this is boat is armed with hextech weaponry, which I'm too scared to test them out. Still though, I'm an explorer, not a poacher. Anything I take isn't stealing, but adopting for archaeology and research purposes. I also like the terms, "liberating" and "procuring"._

 _Don't let anyone tell you otherwise._

 _-Ez_

* * *

 **Ezreal's Field Notes**

 _ **Slowly Going East:**_

 _I've gotta say that it's kinda boring out here on the water. Not that I haven't been on long journeys before. The one from home to Nashramae felt like forever, but I've usually had someone of sorts to make small talk with. This is even longer, still with no land in sight yet._

 _I've got plenty of food, so that's not a problem, but I really do hope there's something soon. I can only play with Jayce's gadgets for so long._

 _The boat and the wind are doing all of the work for me, and I don't have much of a point of direction with just ocean, so I hope I don't go severely off course._

 _My compass says I'm still going east, but how reliable is it when the world is potentially a lot bigger?_

 _If I make it to the new world and back, alive, I hope my pay is good._

 _-Ez_

* * *

 **Ezreal's Field Notes**

 _ **Experimenting with Prayer:**_

 _Like I've said, I'm not spiritual, but I definitely grew up knowing different stories from across the world: talk about deities and stuff. I've learned about more of them as I've explored Runeterra as well. The so-called "Aspects" from Mount Targon I find especially interesting._

 _But I've known for as long as I can remember the tale of Janna. I've heard different things, that's she's a bird, a woman, or just the sentient wind. Anyway, she apparently calms the seas down and blows wind in convenient directions and is just a nice guardian lady all-around._

 _Here's the thing: I reckon I could try and pray to her. Who knows, maybe she'll listen and bless me with some of her magic. Simply asking never hurts anyone. I don't really believe in her, but I could be wrong. Maybe she's been helping me before whenever I've sailed away from home._

 _It's strange to think about. It's also strange to think about what she actually looks, 'cause if she's a hot woman, I'm down._

 _-Ez_

* * *

 **Ezreal's Field Notes**

 _ **Bottles:**_

 _I'm scribbling this shortly after writing my last set of field notes (I should really specify what time exactly I wrote them), because I don't really have much to do. The radio can't pick up any signal either, which is a bummer._

 _The sea is a lot calmer out here, and I feel like I'm not going as fast. It could be because Janna's influence doesn't typically extend this far outwards, either that or she doesn't exist: honestly I don't know. Maybe I should just use the engine at this point. I was saving it in case the winds aren't blowing in my favour. It seems like an appropriate time to do it._

 _Anyway, I was considering writing some messages on paper and then putting them in a bottle with a cork before throwing it overboard. It could be purposefully cryptic or just descriptive of me or something else. I suppose I would never find out what becomes of my messages, but it sounds like fun, and it's something to do._

 _-Ez_

* * *

Ezreal finished rereading his field notes, closed his journal and placed it back inside the cabin (Could he even call them "field" notes when we was not on land?). As much as he enjoyed exploring, writing about his experiences was part of what preserved the memories he had acquired. For Ezreal, it felt wrong to not write at least _something_ about his quests.

He opened a tin of tuna and tossed it on top of a slice of bread before placing another one on top. Miraculously, Ezreal was _still_ yet to run out of food. He had definitely been given a surplus.  
Ezreal wolfed the sandwich down like he was late for meeting, but he certainly had all the time in the world on the boat.

Light was fading, and dark was rising, so Ezreal turned off the engine to let it cool down for the night. He was losing track of time, even with the watch Jayce had designed specifically for the new twenty nine hour day duration. A combination of boredom and deprivation of the actual exploration he craved for.  
He noticed that he was struggling to keep his eyes open. 'Another day down.' Ezreal muttered to himself. 'Let's head to bed.'

He went inside the cabin and removed his clothes, replacing them with a set of comfortable pyjamas. 'Goodnight daytime.'

Darkness had fully emerged, accompanied by the two nightlights in the sky, which shone a beautiful pair of reflections across the sea.

' _Explore… uncover… excitement…_ '

 _Knock, Knock_

' _Gauntlet… treasure…_ '

 _Knock, knock_

'W-wuh?'

Ezreal turned his beside lamp on, clumsily stood up and staggered towards the door. 'Who goes there?' he said, mostly asleep.

No one. He closed the door and toppled back into bed.

 _Knock, Knock_

Ezreal shook himself awake. This time, he was not imagining it. He opened the door and walked onto the deck, looking around to see what was there. A mixture of nervousness and annoyance inhabited him. 'Show yourself, whoever you are!'

The glittery sound, again. Ezreal looked upwards. On top of the cabin. She was on her knees, peering over the edge. 'Hello! Hi! Hey! Or... whatever...' she said before rolling backwards, hiding from view.

'Hey, get back here!' Ezreal demanded. He jumped up and pulled himself onto the cabin roof.

She was shaking, switching her gaze from the moons, to the water, to Ezreal, and back to the moons.

'Who are you?' Ezreal asked. He lowered his guard slighty, judging by her innocent looking appearance.

'I-I'm Zoe… You're Ezreal, right?'

'How do you know my name?'

'I-I have a question I wanna ask, buuuuut I need you to say yes before I ask it.'

Suspicion grabbed hold of Ezreal. Who was this little girl with otherworldly hair? 'Answer _my_ question first.'

'Well, I've… seen you before.'

'From where?'

'From… places.'

Ezreal was unsure on how to respond. What did "places" even mean? 'And how did you find me, or get here for that matter, in the middle of the ocean? That's pure sorcery right there.'

Zoe put her hands behind her back. 'Well… I might _like_ like you.'

Although not fully, Ezreal began to make sense of her. He felt mildly flattered, but she appeared to be far too young – a minor. 'Umm, that's great. A lot of people feel that way about me.'

'Oh, no! You don't like any of them back, do you?!'

'I'm sorry to disappoint you, but yeah, there are some nice ones.'

'Could I be considered one of them?!'

'Well I don't know who you are, so I can't really say. I'd rather be with someone I know.'

'No, no, please don't say that! Who do you have your eye on? I promise, I can be better than her!'

'That's none of your business, Zoe.'

'But please can I at least give you one of my chocolate mooncakes?' Without waiting for an answer, she pulled one out of her hair and offered it to him.

Ezreal hesitantly took it from her. 'Thanks…' he said, desperately wishing that he was not in such an awkward situation. Still though, he took a bite and savoured the taste. 'It's… pretty good.' he said with genuine sincerity.

'Great! Does that change your mind about me?!'

'Look, Zoe… one can't deny that I'm a pretty cool guy. And… you're rather sweet yourself, BUT,' he said before she could interrupt. 'I'm pursuing my own dreams, presumably as much as you are yourself, and both of ours don't align. It's just how it is, I'm afraid.'

'Oh please, please give me a chance! When you get to know me, you're realise just how cool I am, and that I can do things far beyond any other girl's imagination!' She lifted herself off the cabin and levitated.

Ezreal sighed. He could definitely not deny that Zoe was not your average girl. There was something supernatural about her. 'How old are you even?'

'You… probably wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I promise you that I'm old enough to do all things that couples do!'

'I'm not convinced, but, okay…'

'So, can I stay?'

'Umm…'

'It's late at night, and I have nowhere else to go to.'

'Where did you come from then?'

'I don't have a home anymore. I just go from place to place, thinking about you.'

'What?'

'Nothing! I just think you're… really cute, and… amazing in every single way.'

A subliminally modest part of Ezreal came to the surface. He was usually very cocky and hubristic about his good looks and talents, but it was surreal to hear someone actually affirming it and agreeing with him. 'Are you into exploring?'

'Of course! I love discovering new things!'

'Do you like finding treasure and other priceless artefacts?'

'I guess that would depend on what you consider valuable, but I bet anything is worth millions when you touch it. You leave fingerprints after all.'

'Thanks. And do you like putting yourself in perilous situations by your own choice?'

'There aren't many things that are dangerous for me, but yeah: danger makes things more fun.'

Ezreal placed his right palm against his forehead.

'See! We're perfectly suited for each other!'

'Fine… You can stay.'

'Yay! I love you Ezreal! I promise you won't regret this!'

'I had better not…'

Zoe emitted a small giggle. She jumped off the cabin roof and skipped inside.

'How long have you been on the boat?' Ezreal asked as he closed the door behind him.

'I, umm… I've been watching your boat for the past few days, but I only found the courage to actually come and see you tonight.'

'And what was I doing when you arrived?' he asked, unsure if he really wanted to know. He would have been okay with any other girl spying on him…

'You were eating a sandwich.' Zoe responded. 'Then you turned off the boat's engine and got – umm…'

'Were you watching me undress?!'

'I might have sneaked a peak.'

'Oh my goodness, why?!'

'I'm sorry. I was just curious what you… looked like.'

'Ugh, never mind. Just don't do that again. Okay?'

'Uh, yes, absolutely. I promise.' said Zoe with an undiluted apology. Still though, she hopped onto the bed and snuggled up against the wall.

'Zoe, that is _my_ bed.' said Ezreal disapprovingly.

'I know, but, where else would I sleep?' she said, sitting up.

'On the floor.'

'I don't want to though.'

'I'm letting you stay here with me. Is that not enough for you?'

'Please…' Zoe said with a whimper. 'I think about you every day. It was my dream to meet you and express my feelings… It hurts, knowing that I've never had a boyfriend before, and that all the boys I loved just pushed me away. You've given me the best response so far. I just want to know what it's like to be with one: even if it's just for a bit…' A few tears trickled down her cheeks.

Ezreal was torn. He didn't want to make her unhappy, but was she purposefully manipulating him to get his sympathy? The tears suggested that she was showing her true emotions.  
As it stood though, every answer he gave would feel awkward or uncomfortable. Would it be better to make her happy than to make both of them not feel good? He really did not want to surrender to her, but what was the worst that could happen?

'Alright, you can… stay in the same bed as me.'

'Thank you.' Zoe replied, quietly this time as she wiped away her tears.

'Just let me sleep on the left side though. I like to lean against the wall.'

'Not a problem at all, Ezreal.' Zoe smiled.

He pulled the duvet up, allowing him and Zoe to get into bed.

'Goodnight, Ezreal.' said Zoe happily.

'Night Zoe.' Ezreal replied, as he turned off the lamp.

* * *

Ezreal closed his eyes, letting his tiredness drag him to sleep. Something felt odd though. He clenched his eyes as he realised what Zoe was doing. 'Please stop…' he begged.

'Sorry, I'm just experimenting. That's all.' Zoe whispered. She wrapped her arms around his waist, embracing him closely

Ezreal tried to relax, convincing himself that hugging was not an inherently bad thing.

Could she have gone any further though?  
Zoe – being smaller than Ezreal, eased herself on top of her crush. Ezreal was petrified, unsure of what to do.  
She softly took a hold of his head with both of her hands, and their lips met.

If it had been any person worse than her, Ezreal would have thrown her off immediately. But he did not resist. Instead, he relinquished. Almost without thinking about it, his hands and arms wrapped themselves around her. Minutes went by, and their lips had not yet bid farewell.

To Zoe, she had never felt so good.

To Ezreal, he felt conflicted. His mind was screaming at him to stop. But, at the same time… she was an incredibly good kisser.


	23. Woe Betide the Unimaginable

**Chapter 23** – Woe Betide the Unimaginable

' _Why? Why do you persist with your mission?_ ' spoke the voice of a once beautiful woman.

'Because I must. It is necessary.' replied the monk, without looking at her.

' _It is futile. You only prolong the inevitable._ '

'The inevitable is not to be when I undo the Mist.'

He scooped a small handful of soil from the ground with his left hand and let it fall through his fingers. He had felt it countless times before, but its emptiness of nutrients never failed to make him sigh.

' _It will never happen._ '

'It will.'

' _You are stubborn. You are delusional._ '

'You are enslaved. I work to set you free.'

' _Join us, in eternity._ '

'I think not.'

The monk moved forward, carrying a grim looking shovel with him and a small vial of water on a necklace.  
This was a better spot. He dug a hole in the ground and a dim, ghostly light breached the surface.

'Arise and return to this world.' the monk called out.

A small, ghoulish creature crawled out. It had no eyes, but could sense the monk's presence. It scampered towards his feet and stood there motionlessly, like an obedient dog.

' _Yorick, you use the Mist as your tool. Why do you seek to end it?_ '

'The Mist is a means to its end, and this shovel is my tool, not the curse.'

Yorick was once a man in life, with an uncanny and unique ability to speak with the souls of the beyond. He became an outcast from his village for this, and was even rejected by his former monkhood out of their jealously of what he could achieve through faculty and what they could merely hope through faith. The souls found solace in Yorick's company, and they became his only true friends.

But as Yorick's sacred homeland of the Blessed Isles was scourged with a horrendous black mist, it became a world of the undead and a never-ending nightmare: the cursed land known as the "Shadow Isles". All beings rotted overtime in its atmosphere, and only those with the most determination could retain any semblance of who they were in life. Yorick lived in the limbo of life and death, and discovered the cause of the "Ruination": The bemoaning of a foolish King of a long forgotten empire, who attempted to resurrect his deceased Queen through prohibited magic.

Yorick's talent for communication with the dead became more useful than ever. He became a shepherd of souls, and vowed to congregate an army of ghouls to rid the isles of the Mist and restore its former beauty. Although he did not truly know how he was to accomplish this, the tenacity for his holy mission took him to all ends of the Isles, searching for sacred water from the old springs, or any other means, to liberate those who deserved rest.

How many years had it been since he taken the task upon himself? Yorick no longer knew. Many aspects of human like were beyond his recollection. Derogatory or insulting words were meaningless to him. Laughter was nothing but a noise he only vaguely understood. The only thing he remembered for sure was how scared souls feel when they reawaken after their body dies, and the perturb they experience in the Black Mist.

The Maiden of the Mist, whom accompanied Yorick wherever he went, coerced him endlessly to give in and embrace his state of being undead, but her efforts were fruitless, for nothing could impede Yorick's obstinacy. She herself did not realise that Yorick had her best interests in mind.

Yorick inspected the ghoul he had just raised. It was small, like the vast majority of the ones he summoned, but its plea for help was largely the same as the rest, and unmistakable.

'Don't be afraid. I am here to help you.'

' _He lies to you._ ' the Maiden hissed.

'You are not here to utter deceit to my friends.'

' _Friends? They are servants forced to do your bidding._ '

'They know who I am. They know of my intent.'

' _You are leading them to work, leading them to suffer for only you._ '

'I work to save the isles. Souls are a small price to pay to cleanse this land.'

' _Stop it with this madness, Yorick._ '

'Stop it with your invectives. My ears only hear those who ask nicely.'

' _The Treant has never once asked you of it. Who do you aim to please?_ '

'Maokai is blind by his hatred of humans. He does not realise that I aim to free everything, including him and his Isles.'

Yorick shook his head. He had become accustomed to her manipulative talk over centuries, but she constantly asked the same questions over and over again. Yorick wished that she would just go away. The Maiden would always return to Yorick's side, even after leaving him to do who knows what somewhere else on the Isles, as though she had never left at all.

He looked left and right. It was difficult to tell where he was in the midst of a forest of dead bark, surrounded by the Black Mist, but thousands of years of orienteering told Yorick everything he needed to know.  
'I will proceed towards the south.' he thought.

' _Where are we going?_ ' the Maiden asked.

'You shall not follow me.' said Yorick, this time with more severity. 'There are plenty of other spectres who would care more for your presence.'

' _They have all seen reason. You have not yet._ '

'I have seen your reasoning, but I do not agree with it.'

' _Then I must try even harder to persuade you._ '

'You have attempted, countless times; it does not work, evidently. Have you tried preaching your sermons to the Eternal Scrivener?'

' _Once I have. It wrote down everything I said to it._ '

'Find it again, and tell it something else about you.'

' _I have nothing else to say to it._ '

'You have nothing else to say to me, yet you still remain.'

' _If only I could make you see the error of your ways, Yorick. Then you would understand why you should remove that vial from your neck._ '

'If only I could make you see the errors of your way, Maiden. Then you would realise you are wasting your time.'

' _I have all the time I need, Yorick. The Mist will last forever and so shall I._ '

'We'll see about that.'

Yorick turned left, with the ghoul following suit. The Maiden stayed where she was momentarily. She admitted that it was rather boring to just follow the monk around all the time, but she would not give up until Yorick terminated his mission and surrendered his shovel for good. But if limitless time was on her side, then why did she feel so incessant about converting him to shadow? If the Mist would never end, what was she so afraid about? Was it necessary to concern herself with nothing but Yorick's stubbornness?  
Perhaps Yorick's own infinity would eventually give rise to him finding a way to clear the curse, given enough time. As she hovered in place, thinking, she realised that Yorick was already gone.

* * *

Yorick looked behind him as he moved. The Maiden was not pursuing him. 'What a relief.' he said out loud. 'Now I shall find some more spots to dig.'

Although the fertile lands of the Blessed Isles were long gone, the physical substances had not disappeared completely. Bodies could still be easily buried in the ground.

The ghoul he had summoned earlier watched as Yorick dug another hole in the soil. Just like last time, and thousands of times before, the ditch that Yorick had created spawned a dim light and a little ghoul. As always, Yorick examined the ghoul to ascertain who it was. It made a quiet, screeching noise.

'What's that? You say there is something by the coast?'

It made the same screeching noise.

'Interesting. I wonder what it could be.' Yorick picked up his pace and headed straight towards the southern shores shallowest point. Although it did not feel like often, due to his age, Yorick would frequently find something crash upon the Shadow Isles. Most of the time, it was nothing more than parts of a ship that broke apart whilst at sea, or supplies that fell off of one. This was to be expected though, especially from the foolish seafarers of Bilgewater, who would often test their luck by going too far south. But occasionally, he would find shipwrecked crewmembers. Yorick understood the value that a breathing body carried with it. It therefore pained him to see someone misfortunate enough to wind up in the chocking grasp of the Shadow Isles. Even if they had not drowned and were still alive, the Mist would ultimately take their breath away from them if they did not leave soon. Yorick would always be forced to bury the body, or patiently wait until their demise before doing so.

Yorick grimaced as he approached the shore. It was the same on he had found a sailor with plenty broken of bones and blood around him. He had begged for help and struggled for life, but Yorick could not feasibly help him. The poor man's soul was excavated from his body and consumed by a new ghoulish one. He had become one of many in Yorick's army.

Bracing himself for the worst, he held his shovel at the ready as he walked slowly to where the waves lapsed against the sand.

Two people. A young man and woman, or elderly – Yorick could no longer tell how old someone was by looking at them. The woman was lying on her side and the man was flat on his back. Yorick went up to woman, got on his knees and put his left hand on her ribcage. Then he did the same with the man.

'Both hearts are beating. Still alive. But what do I do with them?'

They had a few cuts and bruises on them, but no signs of any fatal injuries. What did it matter though? They would either die in the Black Mist, starve at the shore, or drown if they attempted to swim away. The most that Yorick could do was see if they would wake up. Perhaps he could find out where they had come from.

Yorick gently shook the man by his shoulders. No response. He tried more rigorously the second time. 'Are you alright?' Yorick asked somewhat loudly in his ear. Still the man did not move.

He made the same attempt for the woman, with the same result. 'Maybe they've hit their heads, or maybe they need to throw something up.' Yorick could not be sure, for he was not a doctor, but it was worth trying something. He lifted the man off the ground and placed him over his left shoulder and lightly beat his back, hoping that he would regurgitate anything unwanted.

 _Cough Cough_ *

He was right, the man spat out the remains of some sort of food in two separate retches. Yorick moved him away from the water so that he could lean against the edge of the small drop from the woods to the sand. Yorick placed him on the ground again in a sitting position, but he still did not appear to be conscious though.  
He picked up the woman and repeated the action again. A few more beats did it, but unexpectedly, she made an incredibly loud burp. Yorick almost dropped her, and the two ghouls jumped up in fright. However, his technique had worked. The woman had threw up a lot more than the man did. Some of the vomit splashed onto the back of his ankles, but Yorick did not care. He sat her upright, close to the man.

'What has brought you here?' Yorick asked.

Silence…

'Still breathing.' Yorick checked. 'Heads are intact, yet they sleep. Maybe it is the Mist which prevents them from waking…'

Determined to learn more about them, Yorick prodded them even more. He took the man's wrist and shook it, pulled his long hair upwards and even knocked on his head as though it was a door. 'You are a drowsy one. Why could I have not been graced with such a pleasant night's sleep?'  
Yorick poked him in the right eye.

'G-huh.' The man finally startled. He reflexively jerked backwards slightly.

Yorick took a step back to let him regain some awareness of himself.

'What's going on?' the man mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. His vision was blurry and only slowly recovered itself. 'Where am I?' His eyes found Yorick. 'Woah!' he said, frightened by his ghostly appearance and the ghouls at his feet.

'At last, you are awake.' said Yorick.

'W-who are you, and where am I?' the man asked, half demandingly, half fearfully.

'You do not want to know either of those answers, but I will gladly tell you if you wish.'

'Yes, please tell me.'

'My name is not important, but I shall say that you are in the Shadow Isles.'

'Shadow Isles?'

'Yes. I am sympathetic that you have ended up here, unless it was of your own accord.'

The man made an attempt to get up, but the effort was too strenuous.

'Stay down.' Yorick commanded. 'You will recover better if you do not inflict fatigue related injuries upon yourself.'

The man obeyed. Even though he did not trust Yorick, he was in no position to fight him.

'Do you know who that is?' Yorick asked, pointing at the woman on the man's left, with his shovel.

His eyes widened. 'Nora!' He immediately crawled over to the woman and shook her. 'What's wrong with her?!'

'She's just unconscious.' Yorick replied. 'I found both you two washed up on this shoreline. I forced you to regurgitate some stuff to clear your windpipe.'

The man took a closer look at his surroundings. Behind him, he saw the impenetrable darkness of the Isles. 'I… don't understand, how I got here, and what this place is or-'

'-What's the last thing you remember?' Yorick said abruptly.

The man closed his eyes, concentrating. 'It was all so sudden.' he muttered without actually addressing Yorick. 'I was in the airship… with everyone else and… the dragon. Oh yes, the dragon.'

'Good, keep going.' Yorick encouraged.

'We were on our way to, Ionia, I think it's called. Then a dragon descended from the sky and destroyed our airship. Mere seconds later, my head was spinning, and after that, I… can't recollect anything else.'

'Hmm. Ionia. I have not heard that name in a long time.'

'Do you know how far away it is from here?'

'All I know is that it is not here, for the Shadow Isles are an isolated archipelago. I could not tell you how far away it is.'

The man took a deep breath. 'Alright then. Is there a boat or some way to get off this island?'

'There is no way.' said Yorick. 'No one ever travels to these isles willingly, and whoever comes here tend to not leave by boat either. The only ones you may find are by the coastal region of Helia in the north, and we are currently all the way in the south. These isles are purged by this Black Mist. Nothing grows within. If you walk inside it, your life will begin to slip away and become an undead, like me.'

'Okay… and if we're stuck here, do you know what we can do for food?'

'You will find no such resources here.' said Yorick. 'Not in a land starved of natural life.'

'Great…' said the man with dejection.

'I can ascertain that you are in a very bad situation right now.' said Yorick. 'But if it provides you with any comfort, know that I am not here to hurt you. You might have chocked by now if I had not gotten rid of that food inside of you. The same is true of Nora too. So I'll take back my words when I said that who I am does not matter. My name is Yorick.'

Hesitantly, the man said 'I'm Ren.'

'Nice to meet you, Ren.' said Yorick.

'As it is to meet you.' Ren replied. 'But what do I do then? Are Nora and I doomed to die here?'

'If you think pessimistically, then yes. But I have clung to hope for far longer than any man should have. Do not lose it, for it is only over when you think it is.'

Ren did not know what to say. As far as he could see, he and Nora were screwed.

'Shall we try and wake her up?' said Yorick.

'Umm, alright. But I warn you, she's incredibly erratic and will probably go crazy when she discovers what sort of predicament we're in.'

'I assume that you know her better than I do, but if you want to survive, then it is necessary that she hears what must be said.'

'Okay, but if I wake her up, can you allow us to have a moment to talk in private?'

'Hmm. Oh, yes, relationships. I will allow you to have it.' Yorick strolled away towards a nearby tree and began digging.

Ren looked directly at Nora's eyes as if they were open. 'Hello, Nora. Are you feeling alright?'

Nothing.

He began to shake her gently, saying her name multiple times, nervous of her state, but he kept his composure close. 'Nora? Nora?'

'Is it time for pancakes yet?'

'Nora, how are you feeling?'

'I feel like a dragon sent me flying aaaall the way across the world.' she said in a stupor.

'That's exactly what happened.' said Ren. 'Can you see me?'

'Oh, uh, yes. I'm dizzy and I can feel a strange pain in my leg. But still, hi Ren.'

'Oh thank goodness that you're alive.'

'Why would I not be?'

'Nora, I just need you to listen to me carefully and keep calm. Can you do that for me?'

'Of course Ren. You know that I am perfectly calm in _every_ situation we're in.'

'Heh, that's true.' said Ren with a brief smile. 'But in all seriousness, we've in a very bad situation.'

Nora's weak smile vanished. 'How bad are we talking about?'

'As in, helplessly bad.'

'Oh no… oh no! What are we gonna do Ren?!'

'Please, Nora, just let me explain what the dilemma is.'

'Oh, of course. Sorry Ren, she whispered.'

'We're stranded on an island that is possibly nowhere near Ionia. There's seems to be no feasible way of leaving, and if you look behind you...'

'What is it-oh goodness! That is some thick pollution!'

'It will apparently slowly kill someone and turn them into a… zombie of sorts.'

'A zombie?! I don't want to be a zombie! Can you imagine walking around with nothing but hideous Grimm flesh?! No one would want be with me anymore! '

'Nora, I said please just calm down. Let's not panic.'

'But what can we do?! We're stuck in this little area right here!'

'I don't know, but we have someone who might be able to help us.'

'Huh? Who, who?'

'Okay Yorick, we've finished talking now.' Ren called out.

'Remain here.' Yorick said to his ghouls before returning to Ren and Nora.

'Whoa! Is that a real zombie?!' Nora asked.

'I would not use that term myself, but I suppose it's accurate.' said Yorick

'Please forgive her Yorick. Nora is very hyper, especially around people she's just met.'

'Don't worry about it Ren. Words do not affect me anymore.'

'I'm just saying that she isn't meaning to be rude. Nora, Yorick saved our lives.'

'Of course I'm not! I'm just fascinated, because I've never seen an actual zombie before! And to think we just got saved by one!'

'Although I cannot recall,' said Yorick. 'you remind me of the idea of youth, and what it means to be young. If only I could remember back that far…'

'If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?' asked Ren.

'So much time has passed that I no longer know anymore.' said Yorick. 'Every passing year to me is nothing more than a single second. They all blend in with one another, and I would gladly give up my immortality so that I may finally see the Lamb...'

'It sounds like you have it exceptionally rough.' said Ren. 'I'm sorry to hear that.'

'It's alright.' said Yorick. 'I live only to rid the isles of this horrific curse. It is why I have not yet died.'

Ren and Nora let his melancholy pass before asking anything more.

'So, Yorick. Is there any way you can help us get off the island?' Ren asked, unsure if he would say anything hopeful.

'I cannot think of anything.' replied Yorick plainly. 'Or at least, not immediately. You could try and swim away, but that is near impossible in these violent waves and the horrifying things which may lurch out at sea. That, and the nearest land mass is exceptionally far away from here.'

Ren and Nora briefly glanced at each other with crestfallen eyes. 'You said that there's no food to be found on this island.'

'That is correct. All organic matter deceased here long ago.'

'How about water then? Is there anywhere we can stay hydrated?'

'All water here is probably not safe to drink. But I am not sure.'

'What actually is there on this island then, besides that Black Mist?'

'These Isles were once a landscape of beautiful life and nature. Although I did not have many friends, I knew, and still know this place as my home, even if it is now marked with enduring misery.'

'If it was once inhabited though, is there anything here we can utilise, like tools and resources?'

Yorick stroked his beard. 'Maybe there is… I did not think of that.'

'Well, that could be a start.' said Ren.

'Yeah, we could make a raft out of wood or something.' Nora suggested.

'But you cannot go inside the Mist, not unless you wish to suffer a fate worse than mine.'

'Yorick, are you absolutely sure that we won't be able to survive in the Black Mist?'

'I am positive.' said Yorick regretfully. 'It slowly decomposes your flesh away and feasts on your emotions, putting your soul in the vessel of a ghoulish body.'

'Rotting flesh and emotions?' Ren muttered to himself. He looked at Nora and nodded. She nodded back. 'Yorick, how long does it take for a person to become an undead?'

'Hmm. It depends on how bad you are before you enter the mist in the first place, but I reckon that it would take around ten minutes for the process to fully complete itself.'

'Can we take our chances?'

'What do you mean?'

'I'm not entirely sure how to explain this. It's a long story, but Nora and I aren't normal human beings.'

Yorick said nothing.

'If we step into the Mist, could we see what happens and then get out if it proves to be detrimental for us?'

'I suppose… But it's your funeral if you stay in there for too long.'

'We'll make a risk. Alright Nora?'

'Yeah, let's do it.' she said confidently.

They approached the edge of the Mist. It looked as though they were about to step inside a toxic cloud of smoke.

'Stay close to me.' said Ren. He put his left arm over Nora's should.

'Why would I ever leave your side?' Nora smiled.

'Yeah, you never do.'

They both gingerly moved forward, one step at a time. The mist felt chilling, as though they were stepping into a refrigerator. They inched further until they were completely consumed by the darkness.

'You've turned grey?' Yorick noticed as he joined them.

'Yeah. Cool, isn't it?' said Nora.

'You were expecting that?'

'Yep.'

'And how do you feel?'

'Alright.' said Ren. 'A little cold, and the air's a bit thick, but I'm feeling fine.'

'Me too. We're good.'

'This is very strange.' Yorick said. 'We should not be too presumptuous though. I want to you to go in further, wait for a bit and see how you feel then.'

'Got it.' They both nodded.

'Stay here, and be on the lookout for anything else.' he instructed to the two ghouls.

* * *

Inside the Isles, Ren and Nora could see nothing but bleak shadow and a world stripped of all its precious treasures of nature. Eerie sounds echoed all around them, and in such an unnerving environment, who was to say what something would not pounce on them at any moment. However, though he was an undead himself, Yorick had so far proved to be someone that they could trust for now. They remained sceptical, but as Ren had said when he met Nora in their hometown of Koruyuri, during a major Grimm attack: "We have to be brave."

'Yorick, are we going to Helia?' Ren asked.

'It is worth a try.' he replied. 'There is no point traversing through the centre of the Isles, thus we shall stay closer to the outskirts, where less undead life emerges. Be on your guard. I can communicate and reason with the souls of these Isles, but they may still not respond well to your presence.'

'We understand. Thank you, Yorick.' said Ren.

'Yeah, I _really_ would rather not turn into a zombie.' Nora commented.

'I can't guarantee it, but let's hope that you two indeed can survive the Mist, and that the spirits do not harm you.'

'How long is it going to take to get there?' Nora asked.

'We shall continue to move slowly for now.' said Yorick. 'I want to be sure that the Mist is not unknowingly robbing you of life. If it appears to be not, we can pick up the pace. But although the Isles are not massive, they are not tiny either. So we will be walking for a while, and it is paramount that you do not exhaust yourselves, because you are not replenishing your energy without food or clean water.'

'Will we take breaks when it is necessary?' Ren asked.

'I will find a safe spot, where we are unlikely to be harmed. I should have asked earlier, how competent are you two in combat?'

'We've been in training as "Huntsmen" for quite a few years now.'

'Not to brag or anything, but we've pushed ourselves far beyond what most humans have been willing to do and taken on some really large monsters.' said Nora. 'If you ever see us in action, you'd be like: "Wow, how did you do that?"!'

'Maybe I would, but have you been fighting material opponents?'

'Mostly, yeah.'

'Then do not expect your experience to be entirely applicable to the infestations of these Isles. Your instincts may follow over, but the way you deal with them is not the same. Just keep that in mind.'

'Yes, Yorick. Thank you for informing us of that.'

'Hey, Yorick, is there _anything_ cool about this place. You know, like, are there things left over from before there was this Mist?' Nora asked curiously.

'Some landmarks are partially intact. Others have been destroyed or are just no longer there. With many individuals being spiritual or religious. The architecture was tailored to allow for the faithful to hold rituals and live in peace. The Blessed Isles was home to plenty of scholars and seekers of knowledge. The works of many of these people were placed in libraries and vaults, alongside other cultural or historical artefacts. But since the curse of these Isles began, which I call the "Ruination", a lot of the literature and academic pieces have been erased from existence, with no hopes of recovering them.'

'That's really unfortunate.' said Ren. 'To think that an entire, cultured civilisation was wiped from existence…'

'It is, and it has been over a thousand years since that fateful day. The majesty of the Isles will never reobtain its ancient splendour completely, even once the curse has been eradicated. What made the Blessed Isles such a magnificent land was the people who cultivated it and harmonised the land into their home.'

'Dreadful, truly dreadful.' said Ren.

'How did this Mist even happen?' Nora asked. 'Who or what could possibly wish such a nasty thing over such a wonderful place?'

'The history is long. As you said to me before we entered the Mist together, "it's a long story.". I do not know the full details, but all you need to know is that the King of a bygone empire came to these Isles, hoping that a sorcerer would resurrect his Queen who had passed away. He refused to do it, and the King, in despair, conjured the Black Mist and the Ruination, in a highly unstable pseudo attempt to bring her back to life. Whether or not he caused the Mist of his own volition, or it was unintentionally caused by mourning, is unknown.'

'Wow. Some people really do lose their mind when their beloved is gone.' Nora commented.

'I would sympathise with the King, had he not gone to such an extreme measure to be with his Queen again. I have been able to speak to the ghosts of those who have recently perished, from such a young age, so perhaps I fail to see the significance of a relative or friend dying. But I do think that the King was weak if he could not keep his emotions in check.'

'Yep, he definitely was a drama queen.' said Nora.

'It doesn't matter though.' said Yorick. 'As long as the Mist is still here, I am too. And I shall not rest until I have freed the Shadow Isles of its stagnation.'

'You're trying to remove this Mist?' Ren questioned.

'I am indeed.'

'How exactly do you do that?'

'My mission is unending, but I have used and commanded the souls who desire to go to the beyond, for over a millennium, performing the last rites for those who happily embrace their ghoulish state and refuse to truly die. Some would say that my actions are immoral, because I am manipulating the weaker spirits to do what I tell them, but as more reluctant souls are put to rest, the less potent the Mist becomes, and the closer I come to completing this errand. I am still yet to find a final cure for the Ruination, but I have hope, even after a thousand years of ploughing through this Mist.'

'That is really noble of you.' said Ren after comprehending the scope of Yorick's undertaking. He was reminded of what Ryze had told him and everyone else in the abandoned village – and also why they had come to Runeterra in the first place.

'Do not praise me, for I am far from fulfilling my task. It feels insurmountable at times, and it isn't helped by a thousand years where I have reduced the diameter of the Mist only by a small percentage.'

'You're taking action though, and you've been doing so for far longer than Nora and I will ever live. Even if you do not see it through to the end, you should be at least satisfied, knowing that you had the ambition and were making a huge effort.'

'Exactly, don't be disheartened by your lack of results so far. At least you aren't sitting around on your butt all day.' Nora added.

'If only there were prizes for participation and unfinished work.' Yorick responded. 'I understand what you mean, and I can appreciate your kind words, but I assure you that it is hard to think in terms of effort, when you are bored by the monotony of what I do, and when it feels like you have made virtually no difference whatsoever.'

'Don't give up.' said Nora encouragingly. 'If you have all the time in the world, you'll get there eventually.'

'You remind me that the world is sometimes good. I yearn for a cheerful spirit like yours.'

'You gotta think about good things. Do you have any things or memories that make you happy, Yorick?' Nora asked.

'If there are, I cannot remember. It has been so long since I derived enjoyment from anything.'

Ren and Nora wanted to find something to say that would lift Yorick's mood, but they could not relate to the burden he carried. Even if they could, his momentary rapture would be fleeting.

'Well, we wish you the best, Yorick.' said Ren. 'Hold on to that hope.'

'Absolutely.' Nora agreed. 'Keep breaking those ghoulish legs and showing the Mist who's boss!'

'Thank you.' said Yorick.

* * *

Yorick had concluded that Ren and Nora were safe from the Mist, so they increased their walking speed. How this was the case surpassed Yorick's understanding, but he was grateful that they were not hindered by an inability to wade through it, otherwise he would have had no choice but to leave them to die.  
Still though, the unnatural air of the Mist was not something they could ignore entirely. It made them feel rather queasy after hours of walking. How fortunate they were to be relatively close to the edge of the island as they went. Being in the heart of the Mist for a prolonged period may have been too much for them. They walked for four hours, with only six breaks of around five minutes each.

'We're getting close.' said Yorick.

'Oh, thank _God_. We've been walking forever.' Nora responded.

'I beg that it has not been a waste of our time though.' Yorick reminded her.

The sound of the waves became increasingly louder. Even though they had been in the thicket of darkness throughout their journey across the island, they could see a clearing as the mist began to thin out. Night time had ascended.

Things looked partially promising. Some small, wooden boats could be seen before the remains of Helia's docks. Serendipitously, a few small shacks were standing too

'If we cannot leave now, would staying in one of those be feasible?' Ren asked.

'I'll check inside to see if they're safe. Considering the condition in which I found you both in, I would recommend that you get some sleep.'

The uncomfortable cold sensation of the Mist had finally been replaced with a similar but nicer feeling of the sea breeze. There was still something unnatural about it, but the contrast from the Mist made it welcoming by comparison.

'Stay here.' Yorick instructed. 'I shall examine this one.' he said, pointing to a single room house. The only piece of furniture inside was a wooden chair. The two windows it had once on the back and right side were gone and the floors were moist. It was far from a pleasant accommodation, but Yorick conjectured that it was at least equidistant between the sea and the Mist: not too close to the sea, where a storm could catch them, and just outside the perimeter of the Mist. Most importantly of all though, Yorick was confident that no nasty spirits would find them there.

'The living conditions are abysmal, but its location and safety are actually rather good. Come and see what you think.'

Ren and Nora stepped inside. Instantly, they could smell the mouldy wood, which Yorick could not. The lack of furniture or any bed of sorts turned them off.  
'Could we check the other ones?' Nora requested.

'We can, but I think that this one is in the safest position.'

'How about that one over there?' said Nora, pointing to one around twenty metres to the right.

'It's within the mist, but we can have a look nonetheless.'

This shack was not much better. It was ever so slightly larger in width, with only one window that had been shattered long ago. A decaying mattress was also on the floor in the corner.

The third shack, which was located even further into the Mist, had a table with a leg missing. The forth one, which stood a bit too close to the bay, had nothing in it at all.  
There was no room for being picky though.

'Maybe we could bring the mattress from that house into the one you recommended.' Ren suggested.

'Not a bad idea.' said Yorick. He dropped his shovel and dragged the mattress back to the safest shack. 'Maybe you should see how it feels to lie on it.'

Ren and Nora gently perched themselves on it before lying down. It was damp on the inside, and some of the springs were broken, but it would suffice for making a night's sleep easier.

'Many thanks, Yorick.' said Ren effusively. 'You have done us tremendous good.'

'Your gratitude warms my dead heart.' said Yorick. 'Compassion is a feeling I have not given or received in a long time. It's oddly pleasing to feel it once again.'

'Are you sure we can't do something for you?' Nora asked.

'I would have asked if I needed it, but all my assistance comes from the spirits I command. There is nothing that you, or the physical being, can do to blow away the Mist. But I am humbled by your willingness to do offer your hands.'

'We are in debt to you Yorick. I have a feeling that we would not be alive if you had not come to our rescue.'

'You are not obliged to reciprocate anything to me. All I would say is that you should do yourselves a favour and rest. Tomorrow, I will try and find a way to send you away from here.'

'What will you be doing in the meantime?' Ren asked.

'I shall return to my task, but I will not stray too far away from here. Stay safe, and I shall see you in the morning.'

'Once again, thank you, Yorick.' said Ren.

'Have fun, doing what you do.' said Nora, somewhat awkwardly.

Yorick picked up his shovel and walked away into the Mist.

'Back to myself again.' he thought. 'With having such amicable company, I suddenly feel lonely. Hopefully a ghoul will substitute Ren and Nora.'

Yorick seemed to have an instinctive sense of where to summon a ghoul from. He strolled deeper into the Mist before coming to a stop in the middle of a pathway. With just one dig, he revealed faint glow of one in the soil. 'You are free to roam again, friend.'

It scuttled to him and did a few laps around his feet before stopping. It rasped quietly.

'What did she say to you?'

 _Greagh_

'I suppose I have been gone for a while.'

 _Argggf_

'Where is she then?'

' _Yorick! There you are!_ ' sung the voice of someone Yorick did not wish to see.

He had desired company and brought her back to him. 'To dirt, you return…' he said mundanely.

' _Tell me Yorick, why do you regard the mangled corpses of generic people with more reverence than me?_ '

'Because you exasperate me to no end. Why must you always use your time with me?'

' _It is the foolishly adamant who need convincing the most._ '

'Have you spotted the irony in that statement?'

The Maiden retracted her tongue, and instead found another subject. ' _I saw the Soul Shepherd today._ ' she brought up suddenly.

'Hmm? The protector of the weaker spirits?'

' _He treats them with love and care. Why do you not give your ghouls similar affection, instead of using them as your slaves?_ '

'The Soul Shepherd is merely a guardian who offers comfort to the souls he sees. I go beyond and give them both comfort _and_ a purpose: a reason to fight for the saving of the Isles.'

' _It is abuse, Yorick. I beseech you to stop and give them the will to not choose your crusade._ '

'I consult every soul I awaken, and I only take those who say "yes". We have been through this time and time again: the cost of a few souls and their efforts is a reasonable one to undo the Ruination. Remember that everyone shall be free once it has been lifted.'

' _I cannot understand you, Yorick._ '

'If you did not know a thousand years ago, and if you still do not today, then you never will. Leave me be. I do not wish to be talking to you right now.'

' _What were you doing today?_ '

'That is none of your business.'

' _You have walked all the way across the island in a single day. You must have been doing something important._ '

'Whatever it may be, it does not concern your interests, or even mine for that matter.'

' _Then divulge its details to me, if it is not a secret. What harm is there in me knowing?_ '

'It's a matter of principle.' said Yorick frowningly. 'Your nose does not belong in my affairs. If it is irrelevant, you have more reason to not know than to do.'

The Maiden sighed and thought back to what she had considered earlier that day. ' _You will break one day, Yorick. You will toss your toy aside and stare at reality in the face. You will then bow to me and admit your failure as I humiliate you. All that time you spent on your mission could have been used to revel in the joy of eternity._ '

'You will be untied from your leash long before that ever happens.' Yorick replied, no longer interested. 'When you finally enter the beyond, you will see how wrong you are.'  
He turned his back on her, and marched away with the ghoul, in search of a new spot and a new solution.

* * *

Ren relaxed his muscles and encouraged his mind to enter a meditative state. Although he had only been awake for just over five hours that day, most of the energy he was supposed to be granted by hours of sleep, had been depleted by the effort of walking through the Mist, and what had presumably been a painful landing on the Shadow Isles. His body ached, and the poor quality of the mattress did not accommodate for this.

The same was true of Nora. Her extraordinarily high levels of energy were almost completely gone. She shuffled around on the mattress, trying to find the most comfortable position, but the there was none to be found.

With no food or water either, they were in for a rough night…

Time slowly trickled by. For Ren and Nora, they could not describe how long it had felt for them. Some sleep had finally arrived, but was cut short by a loud rumble.

'Ren, I'm really hungry.' Nora whispered.

'I know. I just heard that.' he replied, rubbing his eyes.

'Surely we could find _something_ , even if it's barely edible and just a nibble.'

'If it only amounted to that much, it would not be worth the effort used to find it in the first place.' Ren yawned.

'It might make my tummy feel a bit better though.' said Nora.

'Nora, please don't fret. Yorick will probably figure out something tomorrow morning.'

'But are you not thirsty though, at least?'

'Yeah, I am, but there's nothing we can do about that. Let's just try and go back to sleep so that we recover some of our strength.'

'Alright. I'll try…'

Eventually the two of them reconciled with sleep and slid deeply into its pocket, and no disturbances waltzed their way into it too. The sound of the waves became non-existent, and the brief bump of something hitting the rocks did not either.

Nora was in the Beacon Hall with her teammates and Team RWBY. The tables had been laid with a buffet of food. 'So many choices. Turkeys, baguettes, watermelons and sausages. So many pancakes. So much syrup! So much _everything_!'  
She leaped off the bench and dove headfirst into the giant stack of pancakes, opening her mouth wide enough to swallow them whole. As she devoured the last one, her face met the plate and it cracked. She landed in a heap on the table. Everyone was laughing in amusement.

'Nice one, Nora!' said Jaune, raising his morning baguette up in a triumphant manner. Ren and Pyrrha both smiled and laughed at the comical display.

'Look up, Nora!' said Yang as she flicked the lid off a bottle a syrup and held it upside down.

Nora opened her mouth and let the syrup run off her tongue and down her throat as though it was just water.

'Wait to go, Nora!' said Ruby. She squeezed her milk carton of "Udder Satisfaction" until it ruptured and squirted everywhere.

Everyone was in such a joyful mood. Even Weiss and Blake had suspended their maturity for the fun.

'Let's eat some more!' Nora shouted.

They were all at the Vytal Festival fairgrounds. The Shopkeep's noodle bar was in sight. Nora sprung to the stool, followed by her friends. They were all presented with a _huge_ bowl of noodles (except Blake, who opted for tuna).

It was so good. It tasted like heaven. 'I want more noodles!' Nora shouted. 'Bring me some more food! Food! Food…'

Nora opened her eyes. Her mouth was watering, and she could feel her stomach craving to be sated. She sniffed, and she stood up. 'Food.'

'Nora, what are you doing?' said Ren sleepily.

'I smell food, so I'm going to get some.' she said merrily and skipped out of the shack.

'What's she talking about..?' Ren murmured. He let his tiredness drift back into sleep. ' _Nora, go back to sleep. Stay with me. Don't go for foo_ \- wait, what?!'  
He sat bolt upright and looked to his side. Nora was gone. She had even left Magnhild behind.

'Oh no. Nora! Come back!' Ren yelled. He stood up and shook off his sleepiness and turned on his instincts. He went out through the doorway and looked around him. Which direction had she gone in? What food had she been referring to? Only Nora could discern a trail of food so easily. 'Nora, where are you?!'

She did not answer. Her appetite must have taken over her awareness and her other senses altogether. Ren looked towards the sea on his right. He could see nothing interesting there from the angle he was at. This leaved two options. Had she gone straight on, or had she gone left?

Ren listened acutely, ignoring the thumping of his heartbeat. 'There!' The key needed: the sound of loud, carefree humming. 'Left…'

Nora kept her nose sticking out in front of her. She did not look where she was going or where her feet were treading, not that she would have been able to do so through the Mist anyway, but she had discarded all her instincts and training she had learned from being a Huntress.  
What did she even smell? 'It's like, some sort of vegetables, with meat.'

'Nora, stop! You're going too far into the Mist!' Ignore whatever it is! Nora!' Ren yelled. His words only fell upon one set of ears, but they were not Nora's.

Nora continued to skip obliviously towards the source of her hunger. 'I will find you delicious food, I will!'

' _Well, well. What do we have here?_ ' hissed a voice.

'Gaaarh!' Nora exclaimed. A searing pain lodged itself into her flesh, just below her neck. She found herself wrenched off her feet and was pulled towards the trees on her left. She landed on her back and winced as she hit her head. As she reopened her eyes, a look of pure, unadulterated terror carved its way onto her face.

' _A poor, lost soul. Oh, what delightful agony you shall endure.'_ Its voice was soothing, yet more sinister than anything Nora had ever heard.

She screamed: louder than she had ever done before.

'Nora!' Ren yelled, as he sprinted to Nora's cries.

' _Screaming won't do you any good, but it's music to my ears.'_

Nora stared upwards to see a spectre of unrivalled horror. It picked her up with just a hook on a chain, which dug into her skin and forced her to stare into its mortifying, hollowed out eyes. Its skull had three horns, a jaw hovering below the roof, and was ablaze in an emerald, green fire.

It wore black robes, with rusted keys hanging from the side. It carried the chain and hook, holding Nora, in its right hand, and a lantern, with a green, glowing orb at the centre, in its left hand.

'Let me go!' Nora wailed.

' _Hahaha! Writhe, like a worm on the hook.'_

Nora squirmed, feebly attempting to pull herself off the hook, but she was sleep deprived and too weak. The more she struggled, the worse the pain became. ' _Keep it up. The more you resist, the more fun it becomes.'_

'What do you want from me?!'

' _Your pain, your suffering, your_ _ **soul**_ _!'_

'Ren! Help me!'

' _No one can save you.'_

'Nora!'  
Ren stopped running as he reached them and saw Nora hanging mercilessly from the spectre's grasp. 'Let her go!' he yelled.

' _No._ _It's over when I say.'_  
The spectre grabbed hold of her head and yanked the hook downwards, splitting her chest open. ' _Flesh is a prison._ ' The ear-splitting screams continued as Nora felt her life slowly eviscerated. ' _Oh, yes! It's about to get much worse._ '

Ren let StormFlower drop down from his sleeves and fired them at the spectre.

The bullets had no effect, and the spectre cackled at their impotence.

Ren made a dash towards the spectre, hoping that it would fall to a powerful kick. Suddenly, a prison of five ghostly pentagonal walls rose from the ground.

' _My house, my rules._ '

He ran straight into the wall and fell straight through it. In an instant, his vision become blurry and he felt his legs give in. He collapsed on the floor, completely debilitated.

' _Hehehe, nobody escapes my torment._ '

Nora watched as Ren crippled before the unbridled power of the spectre's control.  
She was becoming faint, holding onto only a single strand of life.

' _Ever seen your soul? Would you like to?_ ' it asked mirthlessly.

'Please, I beg you, don't do it…' she pleaded weakly.

' _Hehe, you're falling apart. What to do with the pieces?_ '

'Let me live… let us both live. We'll do anything you want…' she moaned weakly.

' _Your death is not my desire. I said that your soul is what I want. Now, let's see how much yours is worth. What precious things do you have treasured in there?_ '

'No, no…'

' _Any last words?_ '

'Spare me…'

' _No. Relax, just… let go._ '  
With one final act of force, the spectre ripped the hook through the whole of her front. Her blood was spilled, and he could finally extract what he had specifically sought. He pulled out a glowing green orb from her heart and cradled it in his right hand. He let go of the hook. Nora's lifeless body fell to the ground, with a _thud_ and a _squelch_.

Ren strained his neck just in time to see the what would haunt him until the day he died.  
The spectre descended to where Ren lay. He held Nora's soul directly in front of his face. ' _Listen to her screams._ '

And sure enough, Nora's voice could still be heard, crying for help that would never come.

Ren had no energy to fight with anger or flee in fear. Instead, tears gushed out of his eyes.

The spectre opened his lantern, stuffed Nora's soul inside and closed it.

If he had listened close enough, Ren would have heard the screams of thousands of other people who had been misfortunate enough to cross paths with him.

It howled with laughter: expressing its pure evil and the most unfiltered depravity possible, beyond everything that Ren could comprehend.

A burst of white light flew towards the spectre. It gasped at its brightness and cried out in pain.

Ren saw a man running towards them from inside the forest. Rage was written across his face, and he wielded and pair of two handguns. He fired both of them rapidly at the spectre. 'There you are, you devil!'

' _Grr, you again._ ' said the spectre, startled.

'You aren't getting away this time, Thresh!'

' _Oh, but I am. You will never see your wife again.'_

'Don't you _dare_ talk about my Senna like!'

' _Farewell for now.'_ said Thresh mockingly as he descended into the air and flew away into the dark, laughing with glee.

'Get _back_ here, Thresh! I swear, you will pay for your crimes. I will END YOU!' He continued to fire his guns of light until Thresh was out of sight and it was pointless to shoot anymore.

He turned his attention to Ren and went on his knees. 'Hey kid, are you alright?'

Ren rolled onto his back and pointed towards Nora.

Lucian saw her body and Ren's soar, crying eyes before putting the two together. 'Oh no… He did not just…'

'W-what was that t-thing?' Ren struggled to articulate through his woes.

'That was the embodiment of everything that blights this cruel world. I cannot begin to describe how abominable he is. He has done unspeakable harm to a countless number of innocent people. And I'm sorry to say, but your… friend over there, is in a place far worse than death….'

'Wait, what do you mean by that?' Ren asked, dreading the answer.

'She's still alive, technically, but her soul has been placed in Thresh's godforsaken lantern.'

'And what does that mean for her?'

'I can't sugar-coat it. When inside that lantern, they suffer for all of eternity, undergoing torture that we cannot begin to fathom. It's the worse fate that anyone can be given…'

'No, this can't be…' said Ren. 'It can't! Why are you making this up?!'

'I'm not.' said the man. 'I just need to be frank with you…'

Ren's body shook. Then he contorted and wallowed on the ground in his own despair. 'Why?! Why?! Nora!'

The man put his guns down and let Ren unravel his overwhelming anguish. He let a few tears of his own trickle from his eyes.  
'Listen.' he said once Ren had let out most of his outbursts. 'I know exactly how you feel.'

'You do?'

'Yeah. He took my wife… I have never felt so much wrath and spite towards a single entity. He laughed in my face and taunted me at the loss of my own beloved. He almost split my own mind apart. Death should've been the end for her, and I thought it was, until I encountered him again, and he told me what had become of my wife's soul. Rest assured that I feel for you. It makes my blood boil even more, knowing that he has made another soul perish, at the expense of someone really close to her. I have sworn to my wife that I will kill Thresh and make him pay for the thousands of crimes he has committed. And I swear also, that he will feel the pain he has inflicted on everyone he has taken, tenfold.'

Ren nodded. The man's voice was loaded with hatred, but it was fuelled by the love of his wife, and the endless sympathy he felt for those who had also gone to damnation.

'So, what's your name?' the man asked.

'I'm Lie Ren.'

'Although the circumstances of it are terrible, it's nice to meet you Lie. I'm Lucian.'

'You too, Lucian. I prefer to be called Ren though.'

'Oh, I see. Ren. How did you get here, to the Shadow Isles?'

'I… don't know. All I can say it that I'm far away from home and have no way of getting back there.'

'Well, tell you what then. Why don't you come with me? We'll get you some food and a place to recuperate back in Bilgewater. The Shadow Isles aren't a place for a good resort vacation. We'll see how you feel, and then we can get you back home. Or, if you wanted to, we could find Thresh, and kill him together. What do you say?'

Ren did not know what Bilgewater was, but he knew for definite that he wanted to take Thresh down. 'I've never believed in revenge before… but I certainly do now. Thank you, Lucian. I greatly appreciate it.'

'Don't mention it. This is personal, for both of us.'

Lucian helped Ren to his feet. His inability to stand after running through the wall had vanished.

Ren looked at Nora's mutilated corpse. The sight of it made him want to vomit, even with no food in his mouth.

'Leave her.' said Lucian. 'There's nothing you can do for her here. Focus on what's ahead, and don't look at what will make the pain only worse.'

'Right.' Ren nodded and took a deep breath.

'I came here by boat, and grabbed some wood to make a fire and cook a stew.' Lucian explained. 'It's late, so just try and get some sleep while I take us back to Bilgewater.'

'Thank you…'

Lucian helped Ren stagger towards the shack to retrieve Manghild before going straight the docks and into a wooden boat. It was petite and powered by an engine rudder. It was suitable for one or two people.  
Although it was dark and very dangerous to be sailing across the sea at such a late hour, its speed would make the journey rather quick, making them spend less time above the sea's uninviting hostilities. And once they got out of the Shadow Isles' vicinity, things would become a lot easier for them.

Ren's mind and body were active and too stimulated to rest. He would never forget this fateful night. It gnawed at him even harder than the night the Imp Grimm had destroyed his hometown and killed his parents. At least the Imp was a mindless creature, but Thresh was cunning and could cause damage beyond anything a Grimm could ever hope to accomplish.

"We have to be brave." said the voice of his childhood self. But Nora was no longer there to be brave with him, and there was no way she could be brave inside the lantern…

Ren conceded his control over his mind and let himself cry, knowing that Nora was well and truly gone.

* * *

Yorick ran back towards the shack. 'What has he done?' he asked himself. The sound of the cackling and the screaming were unmistakable.

Despite him telling Ren and Nora that he would not go far, he had become annoyed with the Maiden and had meandered off in search of more ghouls, completely forgetting what he had promised to do.

'Just a bit further.'

Yorick caught something in the corner of his eye. He turned to the right and saw something which pained his heart like no other. Never before had he seen anything so upsetting. 'How could he? Why must the Warden foist his hobby on some many good people?'

He ran to the shack where they had been staying. 'Empty… Where could Ren have gone off to?'

Yorick desperately wanted to know. Maybe he had been imprisoned by the Warden too. Perhaps he had escaped and ran somewhere far away. Could he have thrown himself into the sea? What if he had been driven to madness and ran to the centre of the Isles, waiting for the Mist to consume him. This would only exacerbate his grief though...

There was no point in searching for him though, for he would probably never find him, and even if he did, he would be beyond saving.

He plodded back towards Nora's body. He moved her aside and began to dig a large hole in the ground. Once he had finished, he picked up Nora and gently placed her inside before refilling the hole with the soil.

Yorick bent down on one knee, held his shovel with one hand, closed his eyes and bowed his head.

'Here lies Nora, the nicest girl I have ever met.' he lamented.

* * *

 **A Soul Bereft of Love**

 _When I look up into the sky  
I realise how quickly the cycle rolls by  
In a flash, light turns to dark  
And on a new day we must embark  
My Passion is overflowing with Love  
Like a blossom tree with two white doves  
For Time Stops for No One…_

 _In all the years that went by  
I failed to see an angel sat by my side  
With a jump and glance to the past  
I see what did and should've last  
In the place of a beautiful life  
Has been usurped by churning strife  
For Time Stops for No One…_

 _A match was made in Heaven  
But I never made the confession  
Joy and happiness has filled our hearts  
With a bundle of giggles and laughs  
Many years have been and gone  
And that special bond is sadly done  
For Time Stops for No One…_

 _I shall see what the future holds  
And find out what the path beholds  
I truly hoped this bliss would never end  
Now my heart is broken and will not mend  
I wish you were here to do what we planned  
With lips on lips and hand in hand  
For Time Stops for No One…_

 _And Love Makes Room for Only One…_

~ Widow of Forgotten Songs


	24. A Demon Disguised as a Marionette

**Chapter 24** – A Demon Disguised as a Marionette

 ***Note: This chapter was released as an April Fools joke for 2019, and is not canon. Feel free to read it as a piece of separate entertainment though.***

Once upon a time on Runeterra, there was a toy made for a Prince. He had many toys (as privileged children do), but the most significant one was a puppet with strings and was made to look like a traditional jester for a King: a royal King with a kingdom that spread further than the eye can see.  
I mean, you know, a hard-working King that sits on his throne all day and is fed chickens legs on a bone needs the comic relief to laugh his sweat off when he is not on duty. So it makes sense that the Prince gets the small version of the real thing, because he'll most likely inherit the throne one day. It probably also means that his little royal highness can humour himself instead of playing peekaboo with the Queen. They can have some quality time together, whatever that may involve. _You do you_ is the expression, so _they do they_.

In truth, no one really knows which prince was gifted a clown as a plaything, but I – a great storyteller with a lot of talent and hubris – have a theory. Jesters are very obsolete. Nowadays, no self-respecting person with authority over a whole nation resorts to the subjugation of an individual who was handpicked to be the ape of the castle. Jarvan III has no harlequin inside his throne room, last time I checked. Swain certainly doesn't have one. Come on, a man like him? It would be highly unprofessional for a prestigious military leader such as himself.

So here's my conjecture: this toy is very old. It's not in a museum for analysis (sadly) but we know that stories about it go back to times of old. Back when Noxus and Demacia did not yet exist; back before the contemporary sex icons of Sarah Fortune, Annie and Urgot existed – even back before Ryze had been reworked seventeen times.  
One significant dynasty of the past was the Ruined King who was responsible for the Black Mist over the Shadow Isles when his wife succumbed to her fatal wounds and was resurrected as a deteriorating, ugly zombie. He was mentioned on the previous occasion, remember?

I don't believe that this jester was tied to him in any way though. The history books don't mention the Ruined King having a son, only a very proud and loyal niece that used to command his army before she was backstabbed by a leader of the King's Iron Order. That's a story for another day, but seriously, that's just rude. I would spit on his face and say "Why'd ya do that, _huh_?"

Instead, I speculate that this puppet had something to do with another tyrant that ruled in an even older time, in the grounds of what would become Noxus. This King was given the name Mordekaiser. You might not have heard of him. A lot of people forget that he even exists. He's only been able to live on after his eventual demise because of some necromantic witchcraft that brought him back to life with just his bones of all things. Although he was defeated once again and his bones and skull were taken to the Blessed Isles, the Ruination inadvertently brought him back to life once again and he now continues to grow his empire on the Shadow Isles.

I'm just being informative here. A lot of people want to remove something so abominable from the records of history. You don't want school children learning about a ghostly King that still exists. It would instil unnecessary fear into those poor kids' souls. Oh and also, Mordekaiser was a very flawed and buggy ruler. He thought that he could take on ranged archers and marksman with enchanters and guardians next to them, with just a mace and a ghoulish servant on his side. It was very stupid if you ask me. Why would a man, who was limited by range, think that it would be a wise idea to go walk towards opponents with range. What a puppet… That's what you get for being cocky.

But I'm getting off topic. The Iron Revenant Mordekaiser, is the best candidate we have based on the evidence that I speak of. There's a very old picture of Mordekaiser in his throne room. Miraculously, it's in colour too. If you do a quick search in your local library, you can see it for yourself.

If you can, have the picture out in front of you, because it'll make this part a lot easier. I'd suggest going to the League of Legends wiki and typing in "Mordekaiser/Skins" into the search engine. Scroll down until you see "King of Clubs Mordekaiser".  
A library works too however: you just need to find a copy of "Mordekaiser's Dark History" written and published by ME! Look for my pen-name "Eccentric Rose". It's a biography of sorts with splashes of comedy and action. I'm gonna do some shameless self-promotion here. Please buy the book. It's only $4.99 (Note: It may be a bit more expensive in other countries, because exporting books has a tax attached to it, but it's still rather cheap), and well worth putting on your shelf. Actually, I think the Amazon Kindle Edition might be even cheaper, because no paper is involved. You don't get the satisfaction of that oddly satisfying smell of brand new paper, but I guess it's better for trees.

Anyway, enough of that. You can see Mordekaiser at the top, sitting on his throne in regal gold robes. Next to him is his Queen, with very odd looking red and white dress.  
There are two other people in the room who aren't really important. A pretty boy is standing very close to the shot. He could've been a knight who's in his formal attire for when he's in the palace and not in the open plains. He also looks like the kind of person who would have sexual relations with someone who is _far_ too old for him.  
Another guy has a red hat and jacket on with a bunch of playing cards. He seems insignificant and probably did card tricks for birthday parties.  
This is what's important though: there's a proper jester in the room, crouching just below the Queen. He has a long nose, red eyes and a long red blade. It's evident that Mordekaiser clearly needed a clown to raise his spirits, as I explained above. The guy went through a lot of tribulations during his time. What if then, Mordekaiser and his Queen had some fun copulation in bed and made a Prince? There's no photographic evidence of Mordekaiser having a son, but I swear I could've heard somewhere that he was born at the beginning of the fourth month. Mordekaiser isn't a virgin. Who would've guessed? But I digress.

If Mordekaiser had a harlequin doing belly sliding, there's every reason to believe that his son might have got a puppet of a joker too, because father and son are likely to be entertained by similar things. It would probably explain the purpose of the dude with the red outfit and cards: to entertain the child with card tricks.

And that's my theory: the marionette puppet was made for Mordekaiser's son. I'm a genius: that's obvious and self-explanatory, but I like flattering myself. I know you guys think I'm wonderful too.

Now I hear you asking, "Why am I talking about a generic string puppet? What's so significant about it?" Well… let's just say that it's no joke.

How do you reconcile something so out of the ordinary? When something defies your expectations and walks in a completely opposite direction, you feel perplexed and are unable to recover from the shock it delivers.

Again we have an event without a specified time etched into paper, but at some point the puppet was cursed with dark magic. I dunno how. Historians haven't figured that out yet. It came to life and now takes glee and schadenfreude in tormenting poor souls, with toys, tricks and illusions. From the jester's perspective, everything about murdering someone is funny. But to everyone else, it's not. There are endless reports of people witnessing it just coming out of nowhere and backstabbing someone in their immediate vicinity after they've had a fright from a jack-in-the-box that also just seemed to come out of thin air. Some cases even account for two harlequins committing a murder together. You could dispute if these are real or not, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

It has evaded authority and capture for as long as anyone can remember and is still at out there, pulling pranks that extend to loss of life. Each death is a joke that the joker can laugh at. Do not enthral its attention. Seriously, it's a bad idea, an even worse idea that taking Aftershock and building mana regeneration on Garen. Don't say I didn't warn you.

And that's my exposition. There's more stuff below, but I hope I did you good and maintained your attention.

Please buy my book.

OH! I forgot to mention. If you purchase my book, every copy comes with a code which you can use on your League of Legends client to unlock something really nice. This may include: DJ Sona, Sweeper Alistar and Striker Lucian + a Pink Chroma for Both, Dunkmaster Ivern and all the Chromas, three different Ward Skins, 7 Gemstones, a Vi figurine with the price of shipping covered, a Fizz onesie with the price of shipping included, 2000RP, PROJECT: Jhin, _all_ the Champions unlocked, Blood Moon Diana, Twisted Fate, Talon and Zilean, or an exclusive emote of Teemo getting sliced in half. These are the standard things you can get. However, there are three _extremely_ rare things that could be distributed. Riot gave me special allowance to do this. There's a chance, a very small chance, but still a chance that you get: Black Alistar, King Rammus, OR Star Guardian Urgot - an exclusive skin, which you can ONLY get by purchasing my book. I had to write a formal letter to Riot, convincing them to slay the meme.

If that doesn't convince you to go online _right now_ and order it, I don't know what will.

Thank you for listening, and now I'll let the 'story' continue.

* * *

Ruby Rose skipped merrily down the street without a care in the world. It was Halloween and it was also her birthday as it just so happens. Whilst most people would be over the moon about trick-or-treating, ghosts, monsters and candy, Ruby had nothing in her mind other than her birthday. She was typically very presumptuous about what she expected from her friends and family. This year she took all the candy from Dr. Oobleck's offerings. When she went out trick-or-treating with Team JNPR, she expected them to give her their candy that they got. and later that evening, when Ruby and her teammates were going out to a Halloween party at midnight, she said as innocently as she could that she had imagined they would buy her costume for her.

In the end though, Yang decided that her younger sister had crossed the line. She went outside and found an old dustbin. Yang then promptly punched two holes through the sides and bottom for Ruby to put her arms through. She presented it to Ruby with a smug grin on her face. 'Here you go little sis!' she said.

Ruby had stared at it with dismay and disappointment in her eyes.

'Well, aren't you going to try it on?' Yang jeered.

With no other option and nothing else to go as, Ruby reluctantly stepped into the bin and pulled it up so that she could put her arms through the holes.

'Oh, and the finishing touch!' said Yang as she took a piece of A4 paper off the table with the word "Trash" written on it in big letters and stuck it to the front of the bin with sticky tape. 'Doesn't it look good on her?'

'It truly does.' Weiss agreed mockingly.

'I kind of wish I was the one wearing it.' said Blake with a grin of mirth on her face.

Ruby groaned as they made their way to the party. she avoided making eye contact with other kids and kept her head low with the bin lid over her face.  
Once they were there insides the sports hall, she couldn't engage in the dancing because of how bulky her "costume" was. Everyone laughed at her. Even team JNPR could not suppress their sniggers.

Humiliated, Ruby went outside to the back of the building and closed the door behind her. Ironically, this was where all other bins were. She wasn't going to sob, but the comments and way that she was being treated transcended the boundaries of something that everyone – including herself – could laugh at. Like when you're travelling as a group and one of you trips and falls into a puddle in front of everyone else. You can all laugh it off because it's just a fleeting moment of embarrassment that's funny in retrospect. This was more than just brief shame.  
She tore off the label on her front, scrunched it up into a ball and threw it as hard as she could towards the road.

Ruby sat down awkwardly on the step to the hall and sighed. 'Maybe I can pretend went outside to get some fresh air.' she thought to herself, because she didn't want to go back inside.

A laugh came from around the corner of the building in front of her.  
Ruby attempted to jump to her feet, alertly as usual, but she lost her balance inside the bin and fell over. She cried out she as rolled like a log down a hill towards the corner where the laugh had come from.  
She eventually came to a stop, but it wasn't from a lack of momentum. something had caught the bin, as though there was an object in the way. Ruby was facing upwards in this position and strained her neck over the bin to see what had stopped her, but she couldn't see anything.

The person that had laughed did it again. It was much closer this time and ruby could hear it much more distinctly. Ruby felt like it was coming from above, as though the person was standing directly over her, but there was clearly nobody there. Whoever found this funny though was clearly a mischief maker. Only those kind of people would laugh with so much eeriness.

Ruby attempted to get up, but before she could, she felt the bin being kicked hard and she was sent rolling back into the bins outside the sports hall. They fell over and made a colossal noise that reverberated through the nearby streets. The music playing inside the party would be too loud for anyone to hear anything though.

The sound of clanging metal rung through Ruby's head and the smell of all the trash made her queasy.

The voice laughed for a third time.

She still had no idea whose voice it was. 'Who's there?!' she demanded.

'Why so serious?' said the voice slowly.

Ruby growled.

'Here we go!' said the voice.

Ruby felt something grab hold of her right hand. She instinctively tried to pull it away but couldn't do so with her arm in the bin.  
The invisible hand pulled her up to her feet, disoriented.

It popped out of nowhere: a noisy jack-in-the-box. The head popped out of the box, right in front of Ruby's face and gave her a true fright.  
She fell backwards and was greeted by the terrifying smile of a harlequin. Its mask was unbelievable disturbing, with blue eyes, a long nose and long white teeth. The outfit it wore was a comical red and black with stuffed chequered trousers.  
'The joke's on you!' it said.

'Get away from me!' Ruby yelled. She wriggled in the bin but couldn't regain control of her body. Ruby closed her eyes so that she did not have to look at its frightening mask. When she opened them though after a few seconds to see what it was doing – gone.

'Now you see me, now you don't!' said the jester.

'What do you want from me?!'

'How about a magic trick?' it asked.

Ruby hesitated. She knew it was the worst decision she could make to play along with its game, but she had no other choice.  
'What kind of magic trick?'

The jester laughed again. 'This will be fun!' it said.

With nothing holding her down anymore, Ruby managed to get herself to her feet.  
'Look… behind you.' said the jester.

Ruby turned around and saw nothing.

'Just a little bit closer!'

She gingerly put one foot in front of another.

'March, march, march, march!' it said insistently.

She ran forward frantically. All of a sudden the clown literally appeared right in front of her. Ruby ran into it and fell backwards again. It didn't budge even slightly.  
This time she landed on something sharp that went through the bin and into her back. The pain was agonising and it all happened in less than a second. Before she could hit the floor, she felt something fly into the left side of her head and it knocked her to the ground. Every time Ruby fell she would roll away and never stay still. The smell was bad enough, but the constant spinning also made her want to vomit.

The jester then reappeared and caught the bin with its foot. It picked ruby off the floor and made her stand upright. She looked straight forward and saw the jester also standing in front of her. There were two of them. The sight of its demonic face was engrained into her mind.

'For my next trick, I'll make you disappear!'

'No, no, please!' Ruby panicked. 'Let me go! Let me go!'

The jester took out a dagger and raised it high, readying it to strike it through Ruby's face. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as the punch line came down.

The jester shattered, right in front of ruby's eyes like glass.

Ruby opened her eyes and stared at the shards on the floor. 'Huh?' she said.

Suddenly, laughter filled the outside.

Neo stepped out from behind the corner the jester had come from, holding a picket sign that said "Haha! Fooled you!" She was smiling gleefully.

'Up here, Red!' said an unpleasantly familiar voice.  
Ruby looked up to see Torchwick and Emerald on the rooftop in fits of laughter. Torchwick was holding a camera.

'What is this?!' Ruby yelled angrily.

'You just got pranked!' said a muffled voice from behind her. It was the jester, but it didn't have the voice it just had. It let go of ruby and reached for its head.  
Ruby watched in horror as she saw it take its own head off to reveal Mercury in a jester's costume. He carried a wicked grin on his countenance, tossed the head to the side and slapped his knees in delight.

'Oh this is the best Halloween prank ever!' said Torchwick. ' _And_ we recorded it too!'

'It would certainly be embarrassing for you Ruby if we happened to give your friends a copy of this hilarious footage we have.' Emerald ridiculed.

'Don't you dare!' Ruby shouted with her fists clenched.

Torchwick reviewed the recording for emerald to see. They both laughed hysterically. 'Well, it's time we left! Come on everyone, let's leave little Red in her trash can!'

'No! give that to me!' Ruby screamed. She stumbled forwards, but instantly lost her footing, for the umpteenth time.

They all scampered away. Neo held up a sign which said 'See you later' before disappearing back round the corner.

Before Ruby had gotten back into a standing position, they had gone. All that remained was Ruby, stripped of her dignity. She stood there in utter shock. Ten seconds passed before she fainted and rolled into the road.

* * *

The end.

wtb sloof lirpa


	25. Survival and Killer Instincts

**Chapter 25** – Survival and Killer Instincts

She fought to regain control of herself as she flew through the air. She had screamed initially upon being blown away, but the immediate shock had been overcome. Now, she was concentrating on the ground below her.  
She was beginning to decelerate, and gravity finally took its course. Arms back. Feet forward. Head focused ahead of her. It was going to be a rough landing, but it was nothing that she hadn't done before in some capacity. She gritted her teeth as the ground finally met her feet. With her knees bent and hands now in front of her, she entered a forward roll before flopping onto her back and rolling onto her side, travelling over a hundred metres across the coarse sand, until finally coming to a stop.  
She closed her eyes and breathed heavily, waiting for her dizziness to calm down moderately. Although she was exhausted, and her head was still spinning, she managed to sit up. Her hands, knees and elbows where grazed, and she ached all over, but she was alive and not fatally wounded. The landing had been a success. 'Nailed it.'

Yang felt her stomach throb. Whatever was sitting in it yearned to escape. She gagged and retched until a puddle of murky brown had been ejected. Yang moaned and lay back down. She murmured something inaudible. Even she herself did not know what it meant, but it was probably a hint of feeling weak.

She dozed for ten minutes, forgetting everything around her. It was only until she eventually reopened her eyes and sat up again when she remembered what had happened and an alarming awareness that she had no idea where she was or what had happened to everyone else who had been aboard Ironwood's ship.

'Ruby! Blake! Weiss! Hello! Anyone out there?!'

Yang feebly stood up and took in her surroundings. Instantly she was given an unnerving sensation. There was nothing around her but sand, dirt and rock. The air was moderately chilling as a cool wind blew through the area.  
In no direction could Yang see anything in the distance that looked remotely interesting or worth heading towards. Her decision on which direction she would go was based on where she had presumably come from. Yang retraced her steps to where she had initially landed. _'We were all travelling to Ionia._ _Shen had said that it was the easternmost point of Runeterra. So,_ assuming _that I'm still in Runeterra, I would've either gone west, north or south.'_

It was not entirely sound logic, since Yang had never seen a map of Runeterra and was clueless about its layout, but it was a form of inductive reasoning which might help her find a way back to Ionia or the gang. She could not be sure of its size, but Runeterra was most certainly finite.  
After the ship had been destroyed, Yang had lost all sense of direction and time. She wasn't sure how long it had taken her to get from Ionia to here. She could not tell how far away she was from Ionia or where the nearest settlement lay. But roughly heading in the general direction of where she had come from would hopefully get her closer to help. If anything, food and water were the most imperative things she could hope to get her hands on.

With no reason to stay where she was, Yang began walking, hoping that luck would dowse her.

* * *

Yang became more perturbed. She had no idea how long she had been walking for, but it felt like ages. Dusk was approaching, and she had still not stumbled upon anywhere to take shelter or nourish. Furthermore, she could not be sure if she was still going straight. It was hard to tell with no indicators.

Yang clenched her fists in frustration. 'This just had to happen.' she said out loud. 'A dragon just _had_ to come out of nowhere and screw us all over.'  
She briefly wondered if this had been set up by anyone, but dismissed the idea. Ryze, Shen and Pantheon had been at Beacon to help them, and they had been flying to Ionia at just the wrong time. Could they have foreseen or pre-empted Ao Shin's descent? Probably not.  
Although she was annoyed and on the verge of panicking, Yang recognised that it was this state of mind which caused her to think unhealthily. She had to focus on the practical side of things and not lose hope just yet.

'I need to get in contact with someone. Where could everyone else be… wait a sec!'

Yang slapped herself on the forehead before she reached into her pocket and found her scroll. She deployed it and searched for her teammates.  
*Out of Signal*

' _Not surprising…_ '

She shook her head and sighed. Nothing was in her favour. She could continue until she found something, or until she collapsed from exhaustion. Although she was completely alone, she did not trust the idea of sleeping out in the open – exposed to dangers that she may not be aware of. It was the fear of the unknown and the desire to be with her companions again that drove her to keep walking.

How long could she keep up her bravado though? The injuries that Yang had sustained from the fall finally caught up to her. The aching in her body returned, accompanied by stiffness. The sun's light had almost entirely disappeared too. It would be foolish to continue for much longer.  
Yang came to a stop. She eased herself to her knees. There was nothing more that she could do. In reality, she could not be sure if she had helped her situation by moving away from where she had landed. What if she had only brought herself into worse peril? Maybe she would have been easier to track, had she remained in the same spot. ' _Sustenance is what matters though._ ' Yang said to herself. ' _I've expended so much energy to end up nowhere, yet I must be closer to someone, at the very least. There's gotta be some good to come out of this mess...'_

Yang succumbed to her fatigue. There was no point in going any further, because at the rate she was going, the choice to sleep where she stood was not different to continue onwards and find nowhere else any better. She gathered sand from around her with her hands and feet to create a soft mound where she could lie down.  
She put her hands on her hips and grimaced at the sight of her makeshift bed. It was abysmal. She had nothing to cushion her head, no blanket to keep her warm and no roof over her head.  
The temperature was dropping rapidly and there was every chance that rain would make an unwanted splash.  
'Ugh…' Yang groaned. She lay herself down straight on her back. The mound of sand did not fully belie the rocky ground beneath. She shivered and curled her knees to her front, but it did not mask the cold. Even pulling up her socks as far as they could go made virtually no improvement. Falling asleep was going to be borderline impossible in those conditions. Still though, Yang closed her eyes.

Despite her tiredness, Yang's mind was still racing. She feared for her team and her friends. If Yang had ended up in a different place to everyone else, what had become of them? Did they survive the fall? Had they found a place of respite, which Yang had not? Was Ruby okay?  
Yang's sisterly love coursed through her body. She knew that Ruby could take care of herself, but was nonetheless terribly worried about her. Could she have been misfortunate enough to fall into the grasp of a situation far worse than Yang's? She dared not dwell on the idea, and instead hoped that she was at least somewhere safe, with someone who had her back.

Moreover though, Yang yearned for someone to be watching hers. She had felt collected in the daylight, but at night, where vision was not on her side, she felt vulnerable. It was the exact reason why she had walked so far, to not be forced to sleep amongst the barren nature. Even if she only had a rock or tree to sleep against that could break the wind, it would've been something.

At last, Yang found sleep. Her mind switched off, and the feeling of the environment's unpleasantries slowly backed off.

* * *

Yang held a frisbee in her hand and waggled it high above her head. 'Look Zwei! You want it?'

 _Woof, Woof!_

'Fetch!' She threw it sideways and it flew off towards the closest bush in their back garden.

Zwei scampered for it on his adorable little legs. He leaped high into the air and successfully caught it in his mouth as he hurdled over the bush, landing on the other side.

'Nice one, Zwei!' said Yang proudly. She beamed as Zwei ran back with the frisbee. He placed it by her feet and barked. 'You want another go?'

 _Woof_!

'Alright then. Go for it!' She cast it again, this time with a tad more force.

This time, Zwei ran pre-emptively, looking up and behind him at the frisbee as he went.

It soared across: but a bit too high this time. It flew and disappeared into the trees at the edge of the garden. Zwei ran back and barked.

'Whoops. Guess I tossed it a bit too hard. I'll climb up and get it, and I won't do that again, okay?'

 _Woof!_

Yang jogged to the trees and looked up. It had vanished into the leaves. This was a piece of cake though. She put her hands and feet around the trunk and then pulled herself upwards, coordinating her limbs to get to the top. Within no time, she was inside the dome of leaves. She looked around until she found the frisbee resting atop a thin branch. It was a similar colour to the leaves, but it still hadn't been to hard to locate. Yang carefully balanced herself on top of the branch and inched her way towards the it. Her mind was focused purely on the frisbee. She did not want to keep her beloved dog waiting.  
'Almost got it, Zwei!' Yang called out. 'Just a bit further!'

The creaking sound did not register. Without warning, the branch snapped. Yang gasped and dropped. She accelerated, and within less than two seconds, the ground met her body, and she jerked up in a fright. Yang opened her eyes and could see nothing but a night sky. She grunted. It had been a while since she'd had one of those involuntary muscle twitches in her sleep: the one which made her feel like she was falling all of a sudden. It was undoubtedly one of the worst ways to have your sleep interrupted.  
Yang grunted again, knowing that she probably would not get back to sleep that night. She turned herself over, on to her left. 'Woah…' she murmured. The shattered moon of Remnant was shining faintly in the sky. Even more remarkably though, was the moon of Runeterra, right next to it. This was the first time Yang had seen both of them together, simultaneously. Their combined light illuminated the area with a gorgeous nightlight. Dim though it was, the fact that Yang could at least see her hands in front of her face was comforting.  
She reattempted to go back to sleep; she closed her eyes and curled up once again.

* * *

Surprisingly, she was feeling drowsy and quickly lost awareness of herself. Until a rasping sound caught the attention of her ears.  
Yang reopened her eyes. ' _What was that?_ '  
It occurred again.

Yang stood up and bended her knees slightly – her instincts, kicking into gear. She listened astutely. Although she wasn't sure what is was yet, something was definitely wrong…  
A new sound: one that instantly made her adrenaline rush and her nerves tense up. Footsteps.  
Yang reached into her pocket for her scroll and turned on the flashlight function. She shone it in everyone direction she could. Nothing was revealed.  
She forced herself to take deep breaths. ' _Be ready Yang._ '

Ten seconds passed. The sound of footsteps again. Yang pointed her scroll at the ground. Then she saw it. Footprints – something with four claws or sharp toes. They had appeared from the front and had circled to her right. She turned around and her heart sprung out of her chest. Something screeched and lunged at her. She only just managed to dive out of the way in time.  
Yang sprung back onto her feet and spun to face it, but it was no longer there. She raised her fists, ready to fire her gauntlets at whatever was hunting her. It was moving. Yang could hear its feet and that nasty rasp.

It re-emerged from thin air, this time from Yang's left. She jumped out of its way and fired a blast in return. It hit the creature on its side and it cried out, yet still managed to land on its feet. In the moonlight, Yang could briefly digest what she was dealing with. A gigantic bug-like creature, with wings, spikes on its back and a pair of razor-sharp, knives as arms. It faced Yang, with glowing yellow eyes and blood drooling from its mouth.  
Yang fired another blast from her gauntlets, but it jumped out of the way with even better reflexes than Yang's, and instantly disappeared from sight again. ' _Invisibility!_ '

Yang had never faced something capable of this. She began to run, knowing that staying still would get her killed for sure. The creature was no doubt chasing her though.  
For the third time, it became visible and pounced at her. Yang threw herself away from it, but cried out as she felt its razor scrape her right ankle. Her aura had protected her, but the pain was just as real as actually being cut.

' _Die running!_ ' it suddenly said.

Yang scrambled to her feet. 'What do you want?!' she said.

' _To eat you!_ '  
Its voice was bone chilling.

'Well too bad, I'm not letting you then!'

' _Worthy prey, I shall devour you!_ '  
The creature suddenly shot its spikes straight at her.

Yang did not notice quick enough and did not evade them in time. Had her semblance not been there, three of them would have impaled her on her front. Again though, the pain was not reduced.

It went invisible for a forth time. Yang kept running, but this time moved erratically. She partially knew its tricks, but was still the prey in this encounter, and she could tell that direct combat with it would result in her being sliced apart. She had to fire at it from a distance and make every shot count.

 _Screech._ It pounced, this time from directly above. Yang punched upwards, and fired a blast from her right gauntlet.  
The bug blocked the shot with its razors, leaving Yang with just enough of a window to dodge out of the way.  
It snarled at Yang, becoming increasingly agitated. ' _Death from afar!'_ For a fifth time it entered stealth.

There was no possible way that she could keep it up for much longer: not when she was sleep deprived and injured. The bug's endurance was sure to be her end. 'Just give it up already!' she shouted.

 _Screech_. At an awkward angle from behind, the bug jumped. It slashed its razor through the air, directed at Yang's neck.  
She hurled forward, saving the thread of her life within a centimetre of being severed. As she retrieved her footing, she then noticed that her head felt unusually light. The bug was looking a few metres to Yang's left in amusement. Yang followed its gaze, then finally reached behind her head, only to find nothing there…

'You… MONSTER!' Yang erupted in a blaze of fury. She dashed forward, straight towards the bug with her fist clenched and with her entire strength behind it.  
It jumped back out of the way, sensing the anger in Yang's red eyes. She fired her gauntlets ferociously without even aiming them.

The bug disappeared repositioned itself behind Yang, who was still shooting in front of her. It pounced.  
Its razors connected with her shoulders and it pushed her to the ground.

Yang roared. With her anger and her Semblance fuelling her, she blindly punched upwards, hitting the bug squarely in the mouth. It ate the shot with full force. Yang felt its hold weaken, and she stood up again, elbowing the bug off her back. She ignored the searing pain of the razors being wrenched out of her shoulders and turned to confront it again, but the bug had regained composure quicker than Yang, and it thrust its right razor down.  
Yang held up her arms defensively just in time for her gauntlets to take the hit as she was knocked down by the bug's sheer strength. Her wrists had been saved, but the gauntlets had not been so fortunate. It went straight through armguard layers and cracked the bullet chambers.  
She hit her head as she went down. Yang's strength was dwindling, and her anger was being replaced with debilitation. She struggled to raise her head as the blood was pounding in her head.

The bug was standing over her and laughing. ' _Ready to reap you!_ '

Yang made on last feeble attempt to fight back. She raised her left hand and fired. The bug watched as the shot flew far to its right. She had not even been close.

The bug readied it razors, with the tips pointed straight at Yang's heart.  
She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes.

A beam of purple flew across the desert and made a direct hit on the bug. It screamed and reared back, as though the beam was a white-hot knife to it. Yang squinted. She saw that a bright, purple mark had been made on the bug's side.

Without warning, something rocketed at lightspeed towards the bug, instantly stopping in front of it, between the bug and Yang.  
Although she could not make out what was going on, Yang noticed pellets of purple rain from the back of the thing that had just entered the fray. They showered the bug, and it screamed even more.  
The thing fired shots of even more purple energy from its hands.

Clearly the bug was weak to whatever this energy was. It screamed, turned invisible, and this time it did not reappear for another attempt on Yang's life.

Yang looked at whatever what made the bug flee. The moons were in front of her, so she could not discern what it was. But Yang could see what looked like a pair of engines on its back. It turned its attention to her, and Yang was instantly frightened by its head. It had three purple lines running across its face, like some sort of visor.

' _Are you hurt?_ ' it suddenly asked. Its voice was filtered.

'W-what, are you?' Yang asked, unsure of what to do.

The thing walked towards Yang and knelt beside her. Now, Yang could see it in more detail. She noticed that was rather humanoid in shape, but had the skin of some sort of creature, which Yang could not name.

It pressed a finger to its head. Yang gasped. Its visor began to fizzle and vanished: to reveal a woman.

'Don't move. Just relax.' She ordered. The woman began examined Yang's shoulders. 'Deep cuts. Not good… Have you been hit anywhere else?'

'My ankle, I think.' Yang replied.

'Please excuse me.' said the woman as she pulled off Yang's right boot and sock. 'Nothing but a gash through your footwear. You're lucky in that regard, but I'd keep it off for now.'

'Okay.'

'Anywhere else?'

'No, I don't think so.'

'Good then. Can you sit up?'

'I should be able t-arggh!'  
Yang pressed down on her hands as she attempted to sit up. A splintering pain shot through her forearms and she fell back down.

'What is it?' the woman asked.

'My- my arms. They hurt…'

'Let me take a look.' said the woman. 'I'll be gentle. I just need to remove your gloves and your… gauntlets. They're really cool looking, I must say.'

'Thanks.' said Yang with a whiff of a smile.

It took around twenty seconds for her to remove each gauntlet, through Yang's winces of pain. 'They took a bit of a beating, I'm afraid.' she said. 'That Void creature's slicers are not to be trifled with. But anyway, I can see your wrists. Deep cut across the top of them, and I think your bones are fractured.'

'Are you sure?' Yang asked nervously.

'Try sitting up again.'

'Ow!' Yang cried out, now feeling the injury in her shoulders too.

'Yep, definitely a bone fracture.' The woman sighed. She sat herself down next to Yang in a cross-legged position.

In the moonlight, Yang could now see her in a bit more detail. She had a couple of markings on her cheeks and forehead, but she was very pretty and had dark, wavy hair. She couldn't have been much older than Yang herself. In spite of this though, Yang could not draw here attention away from the woman's nonhuman skin.

'Does my appearance frighten you?' the woman asked.

'Uh, no…' said Yang.

She chuckled. 'It's okay. You're far from the first to have that reaction towards me.'

'I-I'm sorry. I know its not polite to stare. I'm just a bit intrigued by your suit.'

'I've gotten used to it, and there's no need to hide your reactions. Instincts are what we use to survive. If something, like me, looks threatening, it's only natural that you would flee or fight.'

'It was just that visor thing at first, which scared me. You're really beautiful though. Just keep it off and guys will be chasing you all the time.'

'Hah, thanks.' The woman replied. 'If only it were that simple out here. You're very pretty too. I like the short hairstyle.'

'Wait, what?!' Yang asked.

'Oh, I'm sorry. Do you not like it that way?'

'No. That thing, it cut off my hair.'

'Huh?'

Yang unconsciously made a strenuous effort to get up and search for hair, but instantly collapsed under the weight of her own injuries.

'Please, calm down.' the woman insisted. 'I think I can see your hair over there. I'll bring it here if you want.'

'Yeah, please do.' said Yang fervently.

The woman got up and scooped up as many strands as she could and brought them over to Yang. There was not much point though, since Yang could not move without hurting herself. To Yang, her hair was the one thing that no one should mess with under any circumstances. Simply pulling out a thread made her angry. To have the entirety of its length cut to be above her shoulders was unspeakable.

The woman seemed to notice how self-conscious Yang was. 'It's a good look, honestly.' she said earnestly.

Yang exhaled. It was not a big concern right then and there. 'Umm, thanks by the way. You seriously just saved my skin from being torn off.'

'It's not a problem, sister. But it leads me to ask, what on earth are you doing out here on your own?'

'Er…' Yang hesitated. What was she supposed to say to this woman? Would she even believe her if she responded truthfully? 'I was travelling with my friends to Ionia, and… a dragon came down from the sky and blew us all away. Sometime later and I ended up here. I then began walking in the direction I came from, but I didn't find anything, so I had no choice but to stay here during the night.' she explained.

'A dragon? And you found yourself all the way down here?' she said, perplexed.

'Are you, by any chance, familiar with anyone called "Ryze", "Shen" or "Pantheon"?' Yang asked.

'"Ryze", "Shen", "Pantheon"… No I don't, unfortunately.'

'Oh well. It's fine. I was just wondering. In any case, do you know where we are? I literally have no idea?'

The woman looked at Yang with concern. 'We're in the forbidden wastelands surrounding Icathia, far too south of the border of Shurima.'

To Yang, the names of "Icathia" and "Shurima" meant nothing, but "forbidden wastelands" certainly put a chill down her spine, and the information of it being south already crossed a few more boxes off the list of where she could be.  
'And do you know how far away Ionia is from here?'

''Ionia? The name rings a bell… but I associate nothing with it, and I have never seen that land before, so I could not tell you.'

'In that case, how about yourself? Where are you from, and how come you're out here like me?'

The woman brushed her shoulders before speaking. 'Are you familiar with the Void?' she asked.

'The- Void?' Yang repeated.

'I presume not then. Well, it's a horror that I would not wish upon my worst enemy. Adequately describing it isn't really possible, but I can try my best.'

'How horrible are we talking about?' Yang asked.

'The Void is a place of unknowable nothingness. Its existence deteriorates the physical world around it, and it spawns eldritch abominations, which are the antithesis of life in our world. The one which attacked you is one of many that exist due to the Void's power. I have seen it before, but have not been able to slay it. In the tribal language of the Sai Kahleek region in Shurima, that particular creature is referred to as "Kha'Zix". The Void leaches from the flourishing life of this world, restlessly drawing everything into oblivion.'

Yang stared upwards at the woman. 'This world is about to end?!' she asked, panicking.

'Not today, thankfully. The Void's power is tremendous, but its negative matter is still relatively weak compared to that of the natural world. I just happened to be unlucky enough to get caught in it myself.'

'What do you mean?' Yang asked, noticing the melancholic tone in her voice.

'I do not remember exactly how long ago it was, but when I was a child, I fell into the Void and was unable to escape. This suit is the carcass of a Void-spawn, which grew on my body after I had killed it. Its body became a part of me, giving me access to some of the offensive powers that the Void possesses. I fought for so long to get out of the Void, killing the creatures without thought and eating anything that would keep me alive, and I finally did. After years of survival and killer instincts, I found a way out to the world that I called home. But I had seen the horrors of the Void myself, and knew that this world was in danger of the creatures that stir from within it. Now, I go between the opening of the Void and the base of Shurima, constantly fighting off the creatures which keep showing up with their ugly heads.  
'Foolish people are drawn to the Void's power, completely unaware of what lies in store for them. But even the smartest people in the tribes of Southern Shurima have fallen victim to the so-called "Prophet" of the Void, who lures them into its "nether grasp" as though it is the emissary of the Void's corruption. Therefore, it's my self-appointed duty to make sure that no one suffers the same fate that I had to endure for so many years. That's the reason why you being here of all places has me extremely concerned. Did someone approach you and talk about the treasures of a world where there is none at all?'

'No one has. You can be sure of that.' said Yang.

'That's good to hear. You haven't been hypnotised by the Prophet. Thank the heavens.'

'But dang, I'm so sorry to hear about how tragic your life has been. I mean, I've trained and fought monsters for a long time myself, but I've always had friends and family to back me up, and time to relax.'

'I definitely envy you then. I don't know what became of my childhood friends, or my family for that matter. They probably searched for me initially when I disappeared from home, but they probably gave up a long time ago when it seemed like I was gone forever. Still though, I've been looking for my mother and father ever since I returned to the real world. But the tribes at the base of Shurima fear my presence. They associate me with the spawn of the Void, and refer to me through a pejorative of my own birth name.'

'That was something I was meaning to ask.' said Yang. 'You saved me from certain death. Who do I owe the thanks to?'

'My birth name was "Kaisa", but since my return, I have been treated like a void-spawn. Therefore, my name has become "Kai'Sa". At first, I was upset and offended by it, but over time I've gotten used to it, and it has kind of grown on me – perhaps literally. So, my name is Kai'Sa.'

'Well Kai'Sa, I'm Yang. It's great to meet you.'

'It's great to meet you too, Yang.' Kai'Sa returned, warmheartedly.

'Do you think your family is still out there?' Yang asked.

'I think so.' said Kai'Sa. 'It's funny to say this, but memories of my father come at the strangest moments. Even in the Void, I was not entirely alone, because my memories comforted me like the closest companion I could possibly have.'

'Well, I'm sure you'll find your parents one day, Kai'Sa, and I bet they would be very proud of you.'

'Thanks, Yang. I do hope for that to be the case eventually.'

'I'm still looking for my mom.' Yang added without thinking about it.

'Oh… what happened, if I may ask?' said Kai'Sa, surprised by Yang suddenly mentioning this.

'I don't have too much to say about it, but my mom left me and my family one day, when I was just a toddler. I'm still searching for clues of where she could've gone, or for what reason. There's nothing really to it, but you talked about finding your family, so I just kinda thought I'd mention that I'm searching for a relative of mine too.'

'I understand, Yang. I can tell that you're a strong person. Keep your memories and happy thoughts close to you, and they'll carry you further than you could even imagine.'

'Thanks, Kai'Sa.'

'Oh, I was just thinking: when was the last time you had something to eat or drink?'

The question immediately made Yang's stomach rumble, and she also noticed how dry her throat was. 'Not since yesterday afternoon, I think.' she replied.

'Well then. I have something here which might hold you over for the time being.' Kai'Sa pulled out a small pouch from behind her. 'If you wanted to survive in a desolate wasteland, with horrors all around you, how would you cope with peaches as your comfort food?'

' _Peaches?_ ' Yang thought to herself. It only just occurred to her that food in Runeterra could be completely different to food in Remnant. Were peaches the same as what she knew them as? 'What are peaches again?' she asked.

Kai'Sa opened the pouch and presented a round, pink-orange fruit that would sit comfortably in a person's hand. 'Peaches: my absolute favourite. They're both sweet and nutritious.' She held it in front of Yang's mouth, which allowed her to take a healthy bit out of it.

Yang rolled her tongue over the fruit, savouring the taste and feeling its texture. She had not eaten peaches often before, but she recognised the flavour, and its sweetness was amplified by tenfold through her hunger. 'It's delicious.' she said. 'Thanks for that.'

'It's my pleasure.' Kai'Sa smiled. 'I can't do anything about water unfortunately, but once the sun's risen, we can make a move. It'll take a while, but I'll get you to the nearest settlement and ensure that you get refreshed up there.'

'Are you going to stay here then?' Yang asked.

'Of course I am. I can't just leave you here. We'll both try and get some sleep. Hopefully you'll feel marginally better by this morning.'

'Kai'Sa, like, seriously. I can't thank you enough.'

'Don't mention it Yang.' Kai'Sa smiled. 'I can't thank _you_ enough for not running away at just the sight of me. It makes me feel more human again.'

'You're more human that a lot of people I've met.' said Yang reassuringly, thinking of two people in particular as she said that.

'And I can certainly say the same about you.' said Kai'Sa cheerfully. She shuffled around and starred in the direction of the two moons. 'I do admit that, although appearance of this second moon is troubling, I am mesmerised by its beauty.' she said.

'Huh? Oh, uh, me too.' said Yang. She had refrained from telling Kai'Sa that she was from another world. Her brief description of the Void had made her hesitant from saying that included the words "another world".

Kai'Sa did not seem to notice Yang's hesitancy in her words. 'I've got your gauntlets with me.' she said.

'That's fine.' Yang replied, remembering that Kha'Zix had broken them. But it was not a concern to be worried about just now. She just hoped that she could get them fixed somewhere.

'Do you want your sock and shoe back on?'

'Yes please.'

Kai'Sa gently rolled Yang's sock over her feet and up her leg before replacing her boot. 'All better now.'

'Thanks.'

'No problem. It's pretty cold right now. Maybe we should stay close together.'

'Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.' Yang agreed.

Kai'Sa created another soft mound from the sand. She helped Yang move onto hers before she laid down on her own.

'Just try and forget about everything if you can and don't worry about any sort of attack from anything. I've got your back.'

'I'll say it again. Thank you, Kai'Sa.'

'It's alright, Yang. Have a good night's sleep.'

'You too.'

Yang closed her eyes for the final time that night, unbelievably thankful that she had been fortunate enough to encounter someone who was willing to take care of her with so much compassion.

Kai'Sa did so too, unbelievably humbled that she had found someone who treated her with so much humanity.


	26. A New Order

**Chapter 26** – A New Order

Adam Taurus rose from the bed. A week had passed since the Beacon Tower had fallen. The wounds from the spears that had been thrust through his body were yet to fully heal. Sitting was excruciating, but so was lying down and standing up: he was in constant pain. But this was not what grieved Adam the most. It was the abysmal feeling of shame that hurt more than anything else. He wanted to believe that the attack on Beacon had been a victory. Positives had come out of it, but to say that it had been a complete success was a transparent lie and denial. Adam himself had been disgraced, and he was aversely anticipating the ignominious lecture that High Leader: Sienna Khan would surely give.

He had changed his outfit, now dawning a different tunic with grey on the front, and zippers on his sleeves, just above his left breast. His Grimm mask was still the same though. He was not ready to abandon it just yet. Aside from these though, he wore plenty of bandages across his body.  
Instinctively, he reached for Wilt and Blush, only to be reminded that he had lost it. The warrior has ensured that he would not retrieve it. Perhaps it was still at Beacon, waiting to be reclaimed. Having no Semblance or weapon was a concern. Adam clenched his fists in resentment.

His meal consisted of a banana and some coconut milk. Even after he had finished, his stomach still growled. It was insubstantial, but no food had been provided to him. Even still, he was not sure if he could stomach anything else: dread and the wounds in his abdomen denied him the delight of food.

Adam finally left the little shack he had found. Before he confronted Sienna Khan, he had a rendezvous point to go to.  
It was conveniently en route to the White Fang's headquarters, so he did not have to limp as far. Adam looked upwards and could see a reflection of his mind and how he felt. The sky was cloudy, spattered with some rainclouds, and conceded none of the sun's evening rays of light.

He eventually reached the meeting point.  
A large man with short brown hair a beard and an olive-green jacket had his arms folded and was leaning against the largest palm tree in the surrounding area. 'About time you got here.' he said gruffly as Adam approached.

'It's hard for me to walk at the moment.' said Adam indignantly. 'When your kneecap is broken and you hurt all over, moving isn't very easy.'

'Alright.' said the man. His tone showed a hint of empathy, but his lack of trust for Adam allowed for no more. 'Shall we get going then?'

'Yes, it's time.' Adam replied.

They headed slowly but surely to the White Fang's headquarters.

'Do you know what you're going to say?' Adam asked.

'I do.' the man replied.

'Do you have any idea of how long you'll need?'

'I can't be sure, but I have things that need to be addressed.'

'Sienna Khan won't take kindly to your presence, so pick your words cautiously.'

'I intend to. Just a bit of negotiation and persuasion is all I need. There won't be any violence today.'

'I'll hold you to your word.'

The building was rather ornate on the outside, and was complemented by the surrounding forest.  
As they approached the entrance, it was evident that they were regarded with contempt. Although you could not see their eyes beneath their Grimm masks, the guards frowned at them.

'Adam Taurus.' one of them said sternly.

'Yes.' Adam said, unsure of what response the guard was looking for.

'Care to explain who _this_ is.' he demanded, pointing his spear at man accompanying Adam.

'This is Hazel Rainhart. I have invited him here because he and his master could be very beneficial to our cause.' Adam explained.

'I'm sure you are aware that humans are not allowed in here, or in any of the White Fang's base of operations.'

'Of course I am, but I assure you that his usefulness outweighs my "disobedience".'

The guards looked each other hesitantly. Letting Hazel in would be upmost of treason. However, Adam's animosity towards humans was unwavering, and everyone in the White Fang knew this. If Adam was insisting on bringing a human into there presence, then he must have had a good reason to do so.

'Very well.' said the guard. 'He may enter. But let me give you this warning. If you put a single toe out of line, then you'll be out of here, possibly without your head intact.'

'I know my place, and I promise to adhere to it.' said Hazel. 'Thank you.'

The guards moved out of the way of the doors, opened it and ushered Adam and Hazel inside.

They went across the hallway and followed two corridors, first left and then right, until they reached a set of giant red doors. These were also attended by two guards.  
'Adam Taurus, you have arrived at last.'

'I have indeed.'

'High leader Sienna Khan wishes to speak to you. Do not keep here waiting any longer.'

'Before I go in, I should explain to you that this is Hazel Rainhart. He has been permitted entry and would also like a word with Sienna. When the time is right, I will call for him. Please do not refuse.'

Like the guards at the entrance to the building, these ones were also sceptical, but nonetheless complied. They nodded.

Adam opened the doors and stepped inside. They naturally closed behind him.

The first guard moved behind Hazel and pointed his spear at his back. The one at the door did the same, at Hazel's heart.

'Make any sudden movements, and you will not be allowed into our High Leader's throne room. Do you understand me?' said the guard at the door.

'I do.' Hazel confirmed.

* * *

Adam limped awkwardly across the excessively large throne room. It was walled with dark mahogany from top to bottom. Five pillars on either side of the room held up the roof, each with a bracket and torch, which illuminated the space. A red carpet was laid out, leading to the throne, where Sienna Khan sat, along with her own personal guards.

Sienna Khan had a pair of tiger's ears on top of her head, and wore a black dress with a red cape. Her hair was dark and she also had the tiger stripes across her limbs.  
She tightened her lips as Adam made his was across the carpet.

With difficulty, Adam kneeled on his right knee and supported himself with his hands on the floor; there was no way that he was going to put pressure on his left leg. He looked up at Sienna. He also noticed that his heart was beating rapidly. Nerves could not get the better of him, and he took deep breaths through his nose to stop himself from shaking too much.

'High Leader, Sienna Khan.' he said, feigning as much respect as he could convoke.

'Adam.' she returned. 'I summoned you here today. There are plenty of things that must be discussed, but shall we start with the obvious matter?'

'Which matter might that be?' Adam asked. He knew which one it was, but wanted to appear as innocent as possible.

'You look unwell right now.' said Sienna. 'I noticed how you struggled to get over here, and the plethora of bandages you have clearly indicate that you have undergone some severe injuries. Care to explain what happened to you?'

'I don't have much to say about it.' said Adam, wishing that he could remove the image of Pantheon from his mind. 'I was dealing with a person, when someone just began to attack me.'

'Describe your assailant to me.' Sienna ordered.

'I couldn't see who he was because he wore a helmet, but he wielded a shield and a spear, and he ended up stabbing me a few times.'

'Was it an even fight, or did he completely outclass you?'

'He… beat me very handily.' Adam confessed.

Sienna shook her head. 'Disgraceful. You have had years of experience in combat, and you were defeated with so much ease.'

'I should add, High Leader Khan, that he was clearly a man, but he was no ordinary man. If he had not gotten the drop on me, then I could have beaten him, but with difficulty.'

'The only reason I am inclined to believe you is because I know how consistently formidable you are: that and the fact that you seem to have lost your sword; you never go anywhere without it. Otherwise I would dismiss this as a fabrication and that you were just cocky and reckless.'

Adam remained silent. He did not want to stay on the topic for long.

'Whatever though. That is not the most important thing right now. Let us move on.'

'What to, High Leader?'

'The assault that you led on Beacon Academy.' said Sienna. I have heard sparse rumours of what happened that night, but I want to hear it from _your_ mouth: the one who led the White Fang and its involvement in the conflict. Do not withhold any information from me, for both your sake and the future of the White Fang.'

Adam took a few more breaths before clearing his throat. 'The Beacon Tower was successfully demolished and the academy itself has been shut down.' he began. 'As you know, the schools are one of the three pillars of society that are responsible for our maltreatment. With a bit of help from a… client of mine, Vale is now in a state of vulnerability, and the humans are in fear of the Faunus.'

'Who is this client that you speak of.' Sienna demanded.

'I… can't tell you who it is at this very moment, because the deal I signed forbid me from revealing their identity to anyone outside of the Vale branch of the White Fang. Their master is someone who cannot be made know to the public.' he lied.

'I am the High Leader of the White Fang! There are no secrets concerning the White Fang that are to be kept from me!' Sienna said, irritated.

'I understand that.' Adam said pressingly. 'But if I do not stick to the deal, then the White Fang is in serious trouble.'

Sienna squinted her eyes, starting intently Adam. 'You are very easy to read.' she said. 'You're working with humans, aren't you?'

'Yes, I am.' Adam admitted. 'But please hear me out.'

Sienna sighed. 'Go on.'

'These people are not representing the humans that we are fighting against. In fact, they share a common enemy with us: the humans that dominate society. I was reluctant to work with them at first, but I have seen what they are capable off, and I was in a position where it was impossible to decline their offer.'

'There is always a choice Adam. You could have said ardently that you were not interested. Working with humans is a crime amongst the White Fang.'

'If I had chosen to not work with them, it would have been detrimental to the White Fang. They operate under the leadership of someone who we cannot win against. It was a much better option to join them and bring humans to their knees, rather than become an enemy of them and suffer the same fate. It was necessary to compromise the creed of not working with humans in order to put us into an advantageous position.'

Sienna Khan considered Adam's reasoning. If she knew specifically who they were dealing with, then she would be more willing to agree with him, but the anonymity kept her at bay. In the end though, she went with a middle ground.  
'I will take your word for it. However, I want to stress something to you. Even if these people that you are working with can be trusted, I thoroughly disapprove of your methods.'

'What do you mean, High Leader?'

'Violence, Adam. You are symbol for many in our organisation, but that doesn't make you infallible.'

'I was merely trying to follow your example, High Leader.'

'And what example might that be?'

'Strength. Strength and unwavering conviction. The humans have seen that strength now.'

Sienna sighed again. 'I was one of the first to suggest violence where violence was necessary. Peace bred complacency and acceptance of our place in the world. I will not allow humanity to push us down without pushing them back. But the destruction of the Huntsman Academics crosses a line! The loss of the CCT has brought global communication to a crawl, and the White Fang is more of a target now than ever before! You have justified humanity's campaign against us, and for what? Empty promises from a group of humans? Humans we still know nothing about, and come and go as they please!  
'These are not examples of strength, Adam. They are examples of your talents being diminished by short-sightedness! That is why the White Fang will _not_ attack Haven Academy! It will do us no good to exacerbate our situation and fuel the prejudice that humans have against the Faunus.'

'Yes, High Leader.' said Adam quietly. His legs were beginning to hurt even more.

'Furthermore, Adam, as I understand it, many members of the White Fang under your leadership were also defeated and injured in the attack you led on Beacon Academy. Like I said, you are an icon in this organisation. If you failed to lead an infantry of Faunus into battle, then what does this say about your leadership and the morale that you raise for us? Is it right for you to be the head of the White Fang unit in Vale?'

'High Leader Khan, I beg for you to give me another chance.'

'… you are lucky that your punishment was not as severe as it could have been. If I was being merciless, I would have you withdrawn from your current position. Be grateful for that.'

'I am, High Leader.'

'Let me make this clear, Adam: the humans are not to be taken lightly. All actions have consequences. We are not showing kindness to the humans, but aggravate them too much and we will be finished by their sheer population.'

It was time. 'If you want to know more about the humans, then why not talk to one yourself?'

'Huh?'

Adam slowly stood up. 'Hazel!' he cued.

The doors opened, and Hazel stepped inside. 'Took you long enough.' he grumbled.

'What is this?!' Sienna demanded as she stood up, aghast.  
All of the guards by her side pointed their spears in Hazel's direction, yet he still casually strolled towards them and Adam.

'Apologies. I don't aim to cause any trouble.'

'You've brought a human to this location?' Sienna said to Adam.

'You should hear what he has to say.' Adam insisted.

'This is grounds for execution!'

'Ma'am… please.' said Hazel calmly. 'Nobody needs to die today.' He kneeled courteously before her on his right knee. 'I'm just asking for a moment of your time.'

'The longer you stay here, the less of a chance you have of leaving alive.'

'I'll take those chances, if you don't mind.'

Sienna slowly sat back down on her throne and put her right foot comfortably over her left leg. 'Is this your client?' she asked Adam.

'Not him specifically, but he works with my client.' Adam replied.

The guards all returned their spears to their sides.

Once he knew that he was safe to continue, Hazel stood up and began his negotiation. 'You don't like me. You have no reason to like me. But you don't have to like me to get the results you want.'

'I'm starting to doubt either of you fully comprehend what it IS that I want. I want humanity to fear the Faunus, to know that we demand respect! I do not want to start a war with the humans that we cannot win!'

'That's where you're wrong.' said Adam suddenly.

Sienna Khan was taken aback, but let him continue despite this.

'We _can_ win a war against the humans. Not only because we have the support of Hazel's master, but because the Faunus are the dominant species of this planet. We're better than humans. We have everything humans have and more. Humans shouldn't just fear the Faunus, they should _serve_ the Faunus.'

Sienna considered his words. 'What services are you offering to us?' she said, addressing Hazel.

'I'm not sure if Adam here told you, but my master is someone who is not to be messed. Cross her, and it'll be the last thing that you do. Like you and your organisation, her primary target is humanity. If you seek to raise the White Fang through the pecking order to the top of society, then that is a wish, which my master can provide you with. All that is required of you is a bit of cooperation. If you lend her your services in the fight against the humans, then the dominance will be yours.'

'And what exactly is involved in our cooperation, as you so put it?'

'Government, military and schools. My colleagues and I are in a fight against these branches of what make up society. I'm sure that you're all too familiar with how they have all mistreated your kind.'

'Yes.' Sienna confirmed.

'Then we're both fighting the same war. It only makes sense, as well as making things easier for all of us, to join forces and take out humanity together.'

'Can I be sure that you and your master will stick with this alliance though? How do I know that you won't double-cross me and dispose of us when we're no longer useful to you?'

'Because, at the moment, there is an even bigger threat on the horizon: one that is a danger to Remnant as a whole.'

'And what might that be?'

'Have you by any chance noticed the irregular activity of the sun, or that there are two moons in the sky at night?'

'Pfft, of course I have. Anyone who hasn't been living under a rock has already noticed that.'

'Well, the cause of this is unknown to most people, except me, my master and my colleagues. To put it shortly, our planet has been merged with another one. Like our planet, this one has life on it, but with life comes the risk for hostilities and dangers, and two of potentially many have already been witnessed.'

Sienna nodded.

'The first one that was seen was at Beacon. My colleagues claimed it to be a demonic beast with wings, a sword bigger than multiple people combined, a deafening voice, and thirst for destruction that is unrivalled by anything seen before on Remnant. This thing alone destroyed the Beacon Tower. The Grimm nor the White Fang played any part in Beacon's actual destruction. The beast also slayed one of the biggest species of Grimm ever to exist, with ease.'

'And what became of it once the battle at Beacon ended?' Sienna questioned.

'As far as I know, it is currently frozen in the grounds of Beacon. Some sort of star fell from the sky, and when it touched the ground, it put the beast and the academy into some sort of stasis where it couldn't move. This happened a week ago, however. We aren't sure if the effects of the star have worn off yet.'

'Okay, about what about the other "hostility"?'

'This one I saw for myself. It seemed like a young girl at first, but my colleagues and I witnessed her performing some very intricate magic. We think that she has cosmic powers beyond our imagination. She was flying, creating portals and even managed to make my master fall asleep instantly with some sort of bubble. If you saw her for yourself, you would know that she's not to be trifled with. Worst of all though: she's immature and has too much power at her playful fingertips. Although I am hesitant to believe her, she claims to have been responsible for merging our planets together.'

'Where did you see her?'

'I was in a meeting with my master and my colleagues. She waltzed in, declared that she merged our planets and toyed with us for a good while before leaving.'

'I am having a hard time believing this. You're a human. Why should I trust that you are not making up a story to me?'

'You may not believe the specifics of what I am telling you Ma'am, but even you have seen the new moon in the sky and how every day is longer than it used to be. My point is that we have already had an encounter with life from another planet, and it has already boasted two exceptionally powerful beings. What if there are more beings just like, or even more powerful than the two I have described? The beast came to Beacon for seemingly no reason other than to just wreak havoc. There could be other beasts with a similar, mindless motivation of destruction and chaos. There could be invaders seeking to take over Remnant. Your primary focus in bending the humans to your will, and humanity is the target of my master as well, but we cannot ignore the situation that has come to light. This planet could spell doom for us all. That is why I am here on behalf of my master: to offer you the opportunity to not only get the results you want, but to also prepare ourselves for a world that we know virtually nothing of so far. It's a win-win, any way you slice it.'

Sienna scratched her ears. Hazel's reasoning and humbleness was definitely tempting her, but it all depended on whether or not he was telling the truth.  
'I can't make a decision just this second.'

'I do need you to make one before I leave.'

'The thing is, I'm just incredulous right now. I'll buy the idea of aliens coming from another world to Remnant, and I will _just_ about go along with the idea of two planets being physically merged together, but a girl claiming to be the instigator of this whole thing: it's too far-fetched. Maybe this girl was very powerful, but can you really take her claim seriously, especially if she's immature?'

'As I have already said Ma'am, I'm sceptical to believe it, but it's the closest possibility we have to fully get a grasp of this whole ordeal. Even if it was not necessarily her doing, perhaps she's got a connection to the thing that _is_ the cause of the two planets being amalgamated.'

A thought and an idea came to Sienna's mind. She pondered it and decided to speak it out. 'I disagree.' she said plainly.

Hazel looked at her, but did not say anything.

'If anything at all caused the planets to merge, it has to have the capability to do so.'

'What do you reckon did it then?'

'Do any of you have a faith, or believe in any sort of higher power?'

'I'm not sure.' said Adam. 'Part of says that there is a god, but another part of me says that it's all just a fairy-tale.'

'At times it tapers, but… I do.' said Hazel.

'Although I do not profess it, I actually _do_ believe in an intelligent designer. A god, or multiple gods. I could go into the idea of faith, and the arguments for and against it, but I will spare the philosophical debate. However, if anything at all is to convince me that Remnant has been merged with another planet, it would have to have been done by something that knows Remnant's structure better than anyone else: and created it with their own hands.'

'You mean… the Gods of Light and Dark?' Hazel suggested. The idea hit him hard. It had never been mentioned once at their meeting in Salem's lair, or even crossed his mind. He was aware that Salem's past had a strong connection to the Gods who had supposedly created Remnant. Maybe Salem just did not want to bring up the idea of something she would probably find uncomfortable to talk about.

'Exactly.' said Sienna. 'What else could have done something so supernatural? If the Gods created Remnant, surely it would be within their capacity to create another planet, or at least take another existing one and combine it with their own creation.'

'But High Leader, the legends of the Gods say that they abandoned Remnant aeons ago.' Adam reminded her.

'Maybe so, but that doesn't mean that they could never come back.'

'For what reason would they return to Remnant though? It seems unlikely when they had just had enough of being here.' Adam added.

'The details of the fable are undetermined.' said Hazel. 'If they do exist, its unclear why exactly they left Remnant, or even what the purpose of this planet was in the first place.'

'It doesn't matter though.' Sienna said firmly. 'If a god is present, then it is crucial that we appease it. I refuse to believe that a girl did something so astronomical. She could not have possibly created and merged a planet with another one.'

'She did not say that she created any planet, only that she combined her and ours into one.' Hazel corrected her.

But Sienna Khan was no longer listening. She jumped out of her throne and dashed past Adam and Hazel, straight towards the doors.

'High Leader, where are you going?' said one of the door guards as he jumped out of her way.

They began to follow her. Hazel entered a jog and Adam hopped with difficulty after him.

She ran outside, dropped to her knees and bowed her head and hands to the floor before the night. 'Oh, great Creator, I beg that you spare me for my transgressions! I have only been fighting for the rights of my people! Please forgive my sins!'

She was not entirely sure who she was speaking to, but beyond the sky and above, something heard her prayer.

* * *

The guards at the entrance looked at Sienna, perplexed at her abruptly pious behaviour. 'High Leader, are you okay?' one of them asked concernedly.

'Forgive me! Please, forgive me!' she begged abstractly.

Hazel soon arrived outside. He was not sure if he should intervene: he was a human after all.

It took Adam longer to make it, but when he had made it, he caught his breath and watched Sienna as she remained glued to the ground.

'She's gone crazy.' said one of the guards.

'What should we do?' said a second.

'Leave her, she's having an experience of faith. Let her bask in it.' a third suggested.

Thirty seconds of nothing passed. Everyone stood silent and simply watched Sienna as she prayed.

A strange aura began to fill the area. Though inexplainable, everyone felt it. Both warmth and cold swam through the air, and the clouds began to clear, revealing a night sky with a surreally blue colour. An opening had been made, and then it appeared.

A dragon: an enormous dragon, so large that only its head could be seen at the angle in which they observed it. It chuckled as it made eye contact with the people below.

Sienna raised her head and shared the same look of pure stupefaction that everyone wore at the sight of it.

'My, how they stare.' he said. The dragon's voice was thunderous, yet slightly majestic.  
'Well say something then.' he boomed.

No one knew how to respond. What was this dragon of unfathomable might?

'Tedious beings. I heard you vehemently worshipping me, so I answered your call, yet you stand there with tongues made of soggy paper. Starstruck I guess.'

'C-can you hear me?' said Adam in not a particularly loud voice.

'My ears heard you in the vastness of space. Of course I can hear you from here.'

'What are you?' one of the guards asked, quivering as he spoke.

'They call me a comet. They call me a dragon. They have no words for my true form. Describe me in any way you like, and you will never adequately capture my essence. But… if you had to give me a name, I have grown fondly of the name "Aurelion Sol". If you wanted to show reverence though, I am "The Star Forger".'

Sienna trembled as she stood up. She stepped forward and curtsied before the dragon. 'God, dragon, whatever you are, I…' her words faltered.

'Cower. Worship. Beg. They are all valid reactions. Pick whichever one you want can muster, you are still the embodiment of underwhelming.'

'Please, spare me! Spare us!' Sienna managed to shout.

'Why would I spare such _mediocrity_?' the dragon said mockingly.

'Now hold on a moment.' said Hazel, subconsciously raising his voice beyond his normal volume. 'We don't know who or what you are, but we aren't looking for fight.'

'Picking a fight with me would be the poorest decision of your life. It seems that sense does exist within this emerging life.'

'It can't be a coincidence.' said Sienna. 'We were just having a discussion about our planet and the Gods. Aurelion… Sol, did you create this planet, and did you merge it with another one?'

The truth was that he had not, but this was too much fun for him. 'Why, yes, of course.' he lied. 'I created this planet before all of you were even a single celled organism. I created the planet that yours has joined with, and I have created so much more. Tell me, what's your favourite star? There's a one hundred percent chance that I made it.'

It was all too much to comprehend. Their minds were bubbling with too much to imagine.

Still though, Aurelion Sol continued to brag. 'I created the cosmos, I created every galaxy in the whole universe. If I had a list on parchment of everything I can do and everything I have ever done, it would be longer than the lifespan of every being that has ever existed on both of these planets, combined. Do you all feel that sense of insignificance in my presence?'

All of them nodded.

'Now then, I think I've had enough of this. I was hoping to be impressed, or at least entertained by you, but I am already bored. You are not worth my time. I am going to throw a star at you. Good luck…'  
He brought his hands together. Fire and stardust began to spin between his fingers, forming wheel of fire.

'No, NO!' Sienna screamed.  
Everyone split up and ran for their lives.

Aurelion Sol raised his hand and lurched it forward. He crushed the fireball in his hands and it blinked into nothingness.  
He laughed. 'I'm only joking. You may all be insects of planetary life, but I'm not _that_ cruel.'

The rest of the Faunus inside the building ran out to witness the spectacle. They all looked upwards at him. Never had any of them been more intimidated in their lives.

'Ahh, even more people have come here to take notes. Splendid.'

'W-why?' Sienna said feebly. 'Why did you take two of your planets and put them together?'

'They are my creations and I am entitled to do whatever I want with them. My will is no concern of yours. All that matters is that you know your place and that you give me appropriate worship and respect.'

Helplessly, everyone surrendered to Aurelion Sol's imposing directives.

'What do you want us to do, great and powerful Star Forger?' Sienna asked.

'Hmm. Worship and, or amuse me. Either one will do, but if you can do both, I will be mildly, _mildly_ impressed.'

'Very well then.' Sienna said. 'Listen up everyone! Today, we shall form a new order, in veneration and fear of the creator of all things! It shall be called: The Order of the Star Forger!'

The response among the White Fang was mixed. Some were cheering, whilst other remained hushed, timorous of what was the expected reaction. It was all so impromptu.

'In the White Fang, we will not only fight for our rights as Faunus, but to also spread the word of Aurelion Sol and his creation!'

'Hang on a minute. What is this I hear about your "rights"?'

'Oh, umm, you see, great creator, I am a representative of my people. We are shunned from society for our heritage, and we have been fighting to gain the respect that we rightfully deserve. Humans have stomped on us Faunus for too long.'

'Hierarchy amongst mortals? That is adorably amusing.'

'Please, Aurelion Sol, help us in our cause!' Sienna beseeched. 'Your leadership will bring justice upon humanity and light the fire in our hearts to keep worshipping you!'

'If it was a real concern of mine, I would say yes. However, impermanent equality is none of my business.'

'I umm, I understand. As you wish.' said Sienna dejectedly.

'However…' said Aurelion Sol, detecting her disappointment. 'If you prove loyal to me overtime, I may consider helping you. Just don't expect it from me anytime soon.

'Your mercy shall not go unrecognised!' Sienna said emphatically. 'Alright everyone, I command that you all begin regular sessions of worship and prayer! Go to the other branches of the White Fang, and inform them of our new subsidiary, the Order of the Star Forger!'

The directive was similar in structure to many of their instructions, but the command itself was very unusual. Perhaps this is what happens when someone has a powerful religious experience.

'Are we done here then?' Aurelion Sol asked.

'Y-you're leaving?' Sienna questioned.

'I have no reason to spend my time here, for I have other things that I must do. Don't worry. I'll be back, but of my accord and not yours, unfortunately.'

'Whatever pleases you, Aurelion Sol. Thank you for your mercy!'

Without another word, Aurelion Sol departed. They did not even see him fly away as the clouds returned to their original position, and area was coated in the moons' candlelight.

'So umm, do we have a deal or not?' Hazel said to Sienna.

'If your master is willing to join us in our worship of the Star Forger, then yes, I shall take your deal.'

Hazel nodded. 'If it is under these conditions, then so be it. Thank you for your time, Ma'am.' He went over to Adam and shook his hands. 'I appreciate your cooperation, Adam.' he said sincerely.

Adam nodded, but did not reply with words. Of everything that could have happened that night, this was not on the list of what he had expected.

Hazel did not look back as walked into the forest. He knew that in reality Sienna Khan was not in admiration of Aurelion Sol; she was terrified of him and acting out of the fear that obscured her judgement.  
He also knew that his report to Salem would be very interesting indeed.

* * *

Credit to **'** _ **brave kid'** _for the idea of the 'Order of the Star Forger'.


	27. Complete and Utter Whimsical Madness

**Chapter 27** –Complete and Utter Whimsical Madness

 **My Journal: Entry No. 76**

 _Days have passed, I think… Like I suspected, I have been in this cage for a while. Yet I am surprised that the leader of this tribe has taken no real interest in me so far, despite what she said when they first captured me. She hasn't come to inspect me once. I have every reason to presume that this world is not familiar with Yordles, based on the way that they have treated me like I am some sort of animal. I suppose it's somewhat understandable from their perspective, but I still feel angry at how I have been deyordlised to an animal. The nerve of these young people I say…  
They do have the decency to bring me some food at least: but these nuts are among the blandest thing I have ever tasted. Beggars can't be choosers unfortunately. _

_Well, it doesn't matter ultimately. The most I can do is sit here and wait for something to happen. Good golly though, I wish there was more I can write about. Being here is so boring. I've taken to writing about my captors though._

 _One of them wears a red hairband over one of his eyes and drinks a lot of something from a large bottle. Fashion choices are subjective of course, but surely his depth perception must be wonky. I can't imagine only having one eye. Well that's his prerogative I guess._

 _Another one wears grey armour over his left arm and a dark red top. I'm intrigued why he wears protection on only one side. If I had to guess, it's probably because most humans, from what I gather, are right-handed. So if he engages in close quarters combat, having armour on your left arm is more important in a duel. Still though, that must put him off balance._

 _There's also this relatively small woman with very short hair and a mean look on her face. She's gazed at me a few times, and our eyes have come into contact. Let me tell you, my dear Journal that she could shatter the mind of a child with that stare._

 _Overall though, few people in this tribe really stand out. They're all wearing similar clothes with no pizazz. If I could get a look at their leader again, I would probably have more to describe. I beg silently but fervently that this will be over soon._

* * *

 **My Journal: Entry No. 77**

 _Anticipation is often scarier than the actual event itself. Now, as I have said before, I am fearless when it comes to missions. The sky is more my home than Bandle City itself is, but even I have my nerves tingling sometimes before I've taken off._

 _Right now, in this tribe's camp, I am feeling that anxiousness, but cranked up to ten levels above my usual self. The prolonged wait is causing my fear to brew and become stronger with each passing minute. Why won't they just get on with what they want to do with me?_

 _Then again, what if they do the unthinkable to me. I should not be even contemplating the idea, but what if they skin me for my fur? Could they be interested in killing me and have me served as their next dinner. Oh no, no, no, please don't let it be that!_

 _I could hope that they become disinterested and let me go. What are the odds of that though? I don't know, because their motivation for shooting me down is still unclear.  
If only I had the same magic that younger Yordles possess. With it, I could possibly make my way to Bandle City in a heartbeat. I can't concentrate with dread consuming me and too much awareness of these bandits that surround me. _

_Although she's sometimes full of mettle in a hazardous way, I wish that the Yordle Gunner was here right now. Tristana is no stranger to humans and could certainly rescue me if her shots were on point. There's no use in dwelling on the ifs. Material reality is all around me, and it is futile for me to resist._

 _Gosh darn it! Let me out of here! Please!_

* * *

Raven sipped a cup of tea from inside her tent. One of her trustier bandits, Vernal, was sitting opposite her at the shallow table. The future of their tribe was up in the air. They had little to do with the outside world, but were aware of Beacon's fall, and they had felt the earthquakes from last week. It had been a cause for panic: reason to suspect that something big was going on. This was one of the major cons of their lifestyle. A sequestered tribe in the middle of an unassuming forest in Anima meant that they were at little risk from being bothered by anyone, but a lack of technology and access to news of current events that were happening in Remnant, was a large setback.

'You look concerned.' Vernal commented as she lowered her teacup from her lips and placed it delicately on the table.

'Things aren't right at the moment.' said Raven.

'Things never are.'

'Of course, but I can tell that something is more amiss than usual.'

'Because of those earthquakes last week and the irregular solar and lunar activity?'

'Mainly, yes. But since then, I have sensed something in the air that rubs me the wrong way. We all know that the days have become longer, and that there are now two moons at night. It's not normal obviously, but I cannot think of a reason or explanation for this strange occurrence, other than _her_.'

'Do you reckon that she's powerful enough to do something as incomprehensible as that?'

'That's where I falter. She's unstoppable, but she's not omnipotent. It's feasible, but I have trouble in believing it with confidence. Besides, Salem is cunning and tactical. She does things with a purpose in mind. For what reason would she go to the trouble of making Remnant orbit slower and add a second moon into the sky?'

'Salem's plan is likely to be bigger than we could ever imagine. We could try and theorise, but most likely fall short of the answer.'

Raven took another sip of tea. 'I can't explain it in words, but a sensation is running ramped through my body right now.'

'Is this due to you being the Spring Maiden?'

'Yes, it is. The whole air feels different. It's not necessarily better or worse, but the fact that there is a different sensation is worrying. Do you understand what I am saying?'

'I do, Raven. We have reason to be cautious of what we cannot see coming. Oh, by the way, when are we going to have a closer look at the rodent that the boys caught?'

'I was initially very curious about it, but my mind quickly became occupied with something else that I've been wanting to do.'

'May I ask what that is?'

Raven sighed. 'Qrow.'

'What about him?'

'He was at Beacon during the invasion. I'm sure of it, and he almost certainly has answers to questions that I want to know.'

'Like what?'

'A particularly important one: I need to know if she has it.'

'If Salem has the… relic?'

'Precisely.'

'Do you even know where to find him?'

'My Semblance.'

'Oh, yes. Of course. I forgot about that. Why not use it then?'

'I'm… just now sure that now is the right time to go and see him.'

'When is it then? If it's as simple as walking through a portal, why hesitate?'

'I'm planning what exactly I want to say to him.' Raven said agitatedly. 'My brother might still be following his path of delusion with Ozpin, but he's not stupid. He's astute and can handle himself well in combat. I'd rather avoid a fight with him; at least for now.'

'I understand, Raven. But remember that you have backup. Your tribe and I are here for you. Qrow cannot handle all of us at once.'

'Qrow has allies and a team of his own.' Raven reminded her.

'True, but they do not have magic, _or_ a Maiden.'

Raven took another sip of her tea. 'You may be right there, but even still, I just want to convince him to lower his guard long enough for me to have a conversation with him and for him to tell me what I want to know.'

Vernal nodded. 'Your word is true, Raven. I will not question you any further.'

'Hey, Raven!' called a voice from outside.

'What is it?' she called back as she stood up.

A man with grain coloured, matted hair and a lean, bony face stepped inside. 'The rodent's getting frantic. It keeps grabbing the cage bars and saying "Let me out! Let me out!".'

'I was just about to go and check upon it.'

Raven walked out of the tent, with Vernal following behind. They approached the cage where the creature remained captive. 'Shay, keep a gun pointed at it, but only shoot if I say so.'

'Got it.' he said subserviently. Four other members of the tribe joined them, with one of them also pointing a rifle at the specimen.

'Alright then. Let's start with some basic questions.' said Raven. 'Apparently you can talk. Is that true?'

The creature was shaking but kept its mouth shut.

Raven already knew the answer, but instilling fear into it would get it to comply. 'It seems like you don't want to. Maybe a few rounds will change you mind. Shay, fire in three… tw-'

'Wait! Wait! I'll talk!' the creature cried out. Its voice, in addition to its long, white moustache, suggested that it was old.

'Good to hear. Now answer my questions, or we will not hesitate to put you down.'

'I will! I will!'

'First of all, describe what you are. Are you an animal, or some sort of creature? I've never seen anything like you before.'

'I'm… what is known as a "Yordle".'

'A "Yordle"?'

'Yes. We're all very short and furry.'

'Interesting. Where do you come from?'

'You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I promise you that.'

'I still want to know. Tell me where you are from or you will be filled with lead.'

'Okay, okay! But first, I need to ask _you_ a question. Are you aware that your world has merged with another one?'

Raven and Vernal looked at each other.

'No.' said Raven dubiously. 'That is an absurd thing to say. Do you think that we were born yesterday? Speak the truth, I said.'

'My life is in your hands right now!' said the Yordle desperately. 'What reason do I have to deceive you when so much is at stake for me?!'

' _True…_ ' Raven thought to herself. 'Do you have anything to add to that claim then?' she asked.

'I do. I can't explain how it happened, but you have to believe me when I say that I am from another world, and ours have suddenly come together. Did you feel the tremors in the planet, by any chance?'

'Yes…' Raven considered his words. 'Do you have a name?'

Did he dare say it? ' _I have to tell the truth. The more I say that is honest, the more likely I am to be spared._ ' 'Yes. My name is Corki.'

'Corki.' Raven said and repeated the name in her head multiple times. 'I also gather that you're a pilot?'

'Yes, I am. I was flying over the forest and then your tribe shot me down.'

'His plane is over there.' said Shay, pointing at a stack of crates. The wreckage was just to the side of them.

'Hmm… curious.' Raven muttered. 'Are many Yordles adept at flying machines?'

'Not many, but I have been flying for many years. It's just a part of who I am.'

'Does your world have a name?'

'Mhm; it's called "Runeterra".'

'Okay. Now be more specific. Whereabouts in this world do you come from?'

'Umm…' Corki hesitated. 'There's no clear-cut answer for that.'

'Why not?' Raven asked sharply.

'Well, you see, the place I come from is called "Bandle City", but its exact location is not as simple as pointing at a map and saying that it's there.'

'What do you mean by that?' Raven demanded.

'Bandle City is not in the material realm. There are magical gateways to it that most humans are not aware of. Fewer still have entered one and set foot in Bandle City itself.'

'Do you believe this?' said Vernal.

'Scarcely.' Raven replied.

'If I may point out,' said Shay. 'We know that magic is real. Aren't you the Spring Maiden after all?'

'Yes, that's correct. Very well then. Corki, stay completely still. Open the cage.' she ordered.

Vernal took a key out of her pocket, placed it in the cage lock and twisted it. A clicking sound followed.

Raven slowly opened the door and reached for Corki. He scrunched his eyelids as she put her hands around his waist and picked him up. 'I'm going to test you for magic.' Raven explained. 'Do not resist. You know what will happen if you do.'

'Is… this going to hurt?' Corki asked timidly.

'Possibly, but it shouldn't be too bad.'

Corki braced himself for his examination. ' _Please be gentle._ ' he begged silently.  
A strange, tingling sensation began to spawn around his waist, which slowly spread to his sides, then to his upper body. His arms became warm and the tips of his fingers swelled with magic. His legs and feet surged with energy. Lastly, the magic reached his head. As a rush of adrenaline coursed through his body. He felt young, as though he could run across the world in a matter of seconds. Best of all though, he was drenched in magic, for the first time in goodness knows how long. An opportunity presented itself to Corki. ' _Should I do it?_ ' he pondered momentarily. He might only have one chance to pull it off. If he missed it or got it wrong, he was screwed. Corki was daring though. ' _It's now or never!_ ' He snapped his fingers. A bright like flashed in front of him.

Raven recoiled back, along with everyone else in the surrounding area.

Corki pulled himself free of Raven's grasp. And stood on top of her hands for only a split second before lunging forward. A portal of white and yellow light opened just in time, before he hit the floor. It swallowed him. He became a ball of light and felt himself being dragged into the realm of bewitching locomotion. The speed increased, and the portal carried him further and further away from his captors. He had succeeded; he had escaped.

Raven rubbed her eyes and blinked multiple times. The floaters in her eyes left her sight. She saw the portal in front of her, still open. 'After him!' she instructed. Without any hesitation, she threw herself into it. She too became a ball of light and felt herself being dragged into the orbit of magic.

Vernal swithered for a second too long. She dived just as the portal closed and vanished. She landed on her front, still within the camp. She winced as she picked herself off the floor and brushed the dust off of her with her hands.

The tribe exchanged looks of concern and worry.

'Crap… what do we do?' said Shay.

Vernal scratched her head. 'I'm not sure.'  
The tribe was more than capable of handling themselves, but it was a predicament nonetheless. The future of the tribe was up in the air. What was going to happened to their leader? Raven was the wood and the energy in the fire that kept their tribe together.

'We should probably take a look at that plane. Who knows; we might be able to find something that we can use to get to Raven.' a bandit suggested.

'You reckon?' another bandit asked.

'Unlikely, but it's the best chance we've got.'  
Everyone went to the plane and began pulling it apart.

Vernal sighed. Part of her was mad at herself for not instantly following them. Another part of her however believed that she had been fortunate enough to have missed it. Who knew where they had gone and what was on the other side?

* * *

Corki whizzed through the tunnel between the material and enchanted world. It only took ten seconds to exit, but the rush was a bit uncomfortable.  
A portal opened and spit Corki out. He landed on lush green grass. The sky was comprised of the most vivid blue imaginable and dotted with a few delicate, wispy clouds.  
He returned to his feet and looked behind him. The portal was still open. 'Oh no. Don't tell me that they're following me here!'  
Corki looked to his left and saw a small hill with pretty little flowers atop it. Also at the top, Corki could see a Yordle. He recognised her instantly. A ludicrously tall red hat with its point curled backwards. It had fallen over her eyes and she seemed to be dancing merrily to nothing in particular. She had long purple hair and carried a wooden staff with her. A faerie with four purple wings was flying next to her.  
'Lulu!' Corki shouted and ran towards the hill.

'Huh?' She lifted her hat upwards so that she could see. 'Corki!' she shouted back and slid down the hill to meet him. 'Pleased to see you again!' she said. Her voice was incredibly high-pitched and she was always happy-go-lucky.

'Lulu, humans are coming! We need to return to Bandle City and warn everyone!'

'Humans? You mean those big people with dull colours?'

'Yes, those people! Quick, let's go!'

'But I want to meet them!' she said cheerfully.

'What? No! Come on! Humans are dangerous!'

But Lulu was not heeding. She saw the portal and skipped towards it. 'Here humans. Come out, come out wherever you are.' she chanted.

Only two seconds later, Raven was launched out of the portal and skidded across the grass on her face.  
Fortunately, the portal closed. No one else was coming through.

'Ooh, a human!' Lulu said in excitement.

Raven spat out grass from her mouth and rose to her feet. She looked down to see Lulu staring at her with bubbly eyes. 'You there, did you see an old… Yordle – that's the word – go past?'

'Why, yes I did! He's over there!' said Lulu, pointing with her staff at Corki, who was running away in the direction of Bandle City.

'Corki, come back here!' Raven yelled.

The old Yordle's little legs could only carry him so far. Raven pursued him and pulled out her sword from its sheath.

'Wait! What do you want with him?!' Lulu asked, suddenly alarmed at the sight of the bloodred sword.

Raven did not answer and did not look back at Lulu. Her eyes were locked on Corki. 'You're not getting away from me!'  
The gap between them was closing exponentially. Corki looked back and cried out in terror as he saw Raven towering over him. She raised her sword and slashed it dow- 'Transmogulate!'

In an instant, Raven shrunk. Her sword disappeared and felt herself walking on four legs instead of two. Corki opened his eyes and saw a purple squirrel with two tails stood where Raven had just been.

Raven had no idea what had happened to her, but looked to her right to see Lulu, now taller, hop in front of her.

She began to laugh and laugh and _laugh_. The sound was ear-grating and Raven could not cover her ears. ' _Make it stop! Make it STOP!_ '

'A purple squirrel! So cute!' said Lulu once she had calmed down after twenty seconds of nonstop, hysterical laughter.

Corki grabbed Lulu's arm. 'Leave her! We need to get extra help!'

'But I'm having so much fun!' Lulu demurred. She walked up to the squirrel and petted it on its head.

'How long does that spell last?' Corki asked.

'Not long, but I can simply turn her into something else.'

'Don't bother. Please, Lulu. Just come with me.'

'What if you go to Bandle City and get help, meanwhile I occupy her?' Lulu suggested.

'You know what, I won't argue with you. Just make sure that she can't hurt anyone.'

'You got it capt'n!'  
Lulu smiled in Corki's direction as he continued to run off into the distance. 'It's just me and my lovely purple squirrel.'

The Raven squirrel began to squirm and roll away from Lulu. It squeaked in frustration.

'Wait, don't go away!' Lulu called out to it. 'Hmm, let's use all the colours.' she waved her staff. 'Delightify!'  
The squirrel disappeared. Now, a pink cupcake with a kaleidoscope of sprinkles, big eyes and stubby feet took its place.  
Lulu chuckled. 'Now for a nibble.' she dipped her finger into the icing and popped it into her mouth. 'Yep, that tasted purple.' she said out loud.

The cake continued to struggle. It waddled away from Lulu, desperate to escape its humiliation. It could not go very far though. Lulu skipped ahead, laughing through her nose, and pirouetting in a circle.  
If it had skin, the cake would be red with both embarrassment and anger. It continued to stagger away from Lulu as fast as it could, until it was too fast for its own legs. It tumbled over, and the icing was smeared over the grass.

'Whoops, I can fix this.' said Lulu. 'Let's put on our thinking caps.' She placed her staff in the ground and began spinning around it in the air, with the curve of her hat around the base, and landed after a few twirls. 'Ah, I got it!' Lulu took her staff once again and waved it at the cupcake. 'Fuzzy!'

The cupcake morphed again, but this time it grew bigger. A large, ginger cat now stood before Lulu. 'Oh dear, wrong spell.' she said.  
The cat glared at her and licked its fangs.

'Time to go…' said Lulu. She entered an awkward sprint, heading unintentionally towards the heart of Bandle City.

The cat had become the predator. It was about the same size as Lulu, but much more ferocious.

'Zippy!' The faerie conjured a spray of pretty little flowers and cast it over Lulu. She began hovered above the ground and sped away.

Furiously, the cat increased its strides and the sight of its nasty glare gave a pinch of fear a way into Lulu's carefree heart for the first time in so many years. They were even in speed. Lulu maintained five metres between her and the cat. 'Where do I go, Pix?!' she asked the faerie. It responded with a glittering noise. 'Of course! What an excellent idea!' she said. Lulu turned abruptly to her left.  
The cat followed her every move and could turn just as well. Its devilish eyes never left Lulu's diminutive frame. They burned with magic and rage as fire literally flew out of her sockets.

'Just a bit further!' Lulu said to Pix. The cat hissed and grinded its teeth together.  
Lulu saw it: a stretch of tall grass. 'Now!' She rushed into it and became hidden from view.

The spell broke just as the cat reached the long grass. Raven returned, running on two feet and with her sword in her hand. She fiercely cut through the grass. 'You're gonna pay for this, I swear!' she yelled.

She trod on something soft. It exploded beneath her feet and a cloud of purple gas enveloped her. Her legs became unbelievably heavy and began to feel dizzy. ' _Cough, Cough_ , w-what is this?' she spluttered.  
Raven tottered forward in tumultuous annoyance and stepped on something else. It too exploded and consumed her in the same purple gas. Raven completely lost her focus and struggled to keep herself from falling over. The only thing she could discern was a vexatious little laugh coming from somewhere that she could not ascertain. It was not as loud as Lulu's, but equally as maddening.  
'I will… get yo- argh!' something sharp connected with Raven's forehead. In an instance, her vision turned to black. She howled as she accidently trod on another soft _thing_ , which erupted from below. The effects on her were amplified tenfold. She chocked on the gas and her own saliva. Her head throbbed with a scorching hot headache, she felt like her limbs were about to snap, and the laughter did not stop.

'It's… too… much…' she mumbled. Light gradually began to return to her eyes, but her view was still distorted by the effects of the gas and her watering eyes.  
Something flew down from the sky, in front of Raven: another Yordle, carrying a cannon. 'Surprise!' she said as she landed, and proceeded to fire. A timed bomb emerged from the tip and it stuck onto Raven's front. She withstood impact of the subsequent cannonballs, but the bomb exploded in her face and it sent her flying back. 'Boomer says hi!' the Yordle taunted.

Raven's aura was on the brink of being depleting entirely. She landed on her back, right on top of two individual explosives. She was debilitated. All she could do was feebly cover her mouth and nose with her hands to stop herself from inhaling the purple gas.  
She had had enough, but they certainly had not.

Corki descended from the sky, now piloting his favourite aircraft. He launched a barrage at the now helpless Raven. She screamed as she was bombarded with missiles. The last of five rockets was the final straw. Her aura shattered. The effects were taking their toll in her body. She let loose a geyser of vomit from her body for two seconds. It returned to the ground, coating her in her own sick.  
It was over. She had lost.

Lulu emerged from the grass, alongside another Yordle with a blow-dart and a green hat with goggles. They were both in fits of laughter.

Corki gently landed his plane, got out and went to inspect his former captor. The Yordle with the cannon did the same.  
'Yuck, that's a lot of human goo.' she commented.

'Well, she can consider herself spanked.' said Corki triumphantly. 'Thanks for the help, Trist. Really couldn't have done it without ya.'

'No problem, Corki. Don't wanna miss out on the fun.'

Lulu and the Yordle with the blow-dart joined them.

'Good thinking, leading her to Teemo's mushroom field.' said Corki.

'It was scary, but also so much fun. We should do it again sometime!' said Lulu enthusiastically.

'No, no! Let's not do that!' Corki responded firmly. 'Don't want another whisky delta coming and destroying our beloved city.'

'Well, she didn't manage to.' said Tristana cockily. 'We all did great!'

'Yep.' said Teemo. 'Just goes to show that you should never underestimate the power of the Scout's code.'

Corki sighed. 'You say that a lot, Teemo.'

'If it's worth saying once, it's probably worth saying a lot.' said Tristana.

'Exactly.' said Teemo. 'I own this land, and if humans think that they can waltz in here, they get _Teemo'd_!'

'So Corki, what happened during your mission to the new world?' Tristana asked. 'You've been gone for ages. We expected you to be back a few days ago.'

'It's a terrible story, I tell you.'

'As terrible as licking a dewdrop?' Lulu asked.

'Umm… I dunno what that means. Let me explain. I flew over Valoran and made it to the new world. I went flew over a village settlement, then a forest. But all of a sudden my plane got shot down by this hag's tribe of bandits.' he said, pointing scornfully at Raven. 'They locked me up for days until she finally decided to give me some attention. She tried to see if I possessed any magical properties, and she granted me enough of her own, allowing me to escape from her camp to back home. She must've followed me here somehow.'

'So that's what happened.' said Tristana, ponderingly. 'What a terrible person! What should we do with her?'

A mechanical sound whirred, coming from Bandle City. They all turned to see a machine with legs walking towards them, piloted by another Yordle. 'I'm here, at last!' he said.

'You're too late, Rumble. Party's already over.' said Tristana.

'Aww, really? I was looking forward to it…'

'That machine really slows you down, doesn't it?' said Teemo. 'You need to be swifter.'

'It takes a while to get this baby revved up.' Rumble replied. 'But when things get cooking, Tristy here never lets me down, outside of a few hiccups here and there.'

'Wait, what's "Tristy"?' Tristana asked, puzzled.

'Oh, umm, nothing. It's just the name of the mech.' Rumble responded nervously.

'Why'd you call it that?' Tristana questioned suspiciously.

'I… just thought it was a cool name.'

'Is it true? Is it true?!' said Lulu.

'What should we do with this human's body?' Rumble said abruptly.

'I don't think she's dead.' said Corki. 'You can see her chest rising, so she's breathing. She has her own form of magic too, so we should keep her as weak as possible.'

'Why not just kill her?' said Teemo. 'What's the point in keeping her alive?'

'We should let the court decide what to do with her. In the meantime, keep feeding her poison, and Lulu; pacify her if she manages to regain her strength.'

'Tulips.' said Lulu.

'But like Rumble said, what do we do with her?' said Tristana.

'We can't take her to the city.' said Corki. 'She smells, and it would be worrying for everyone.'

'How about we keep her in the mushroom field?' Teemo proposed. 'I can keep her supressed.'

'Brilliant idea.' Corki beamed. 'Sounds like a plan. I'll go back to Bandle City and make a report to the council. The rest of you, just do what you want.'

'See ya, Corki.' Tristana called out as Corki boarded his aircraft. They all waved at him as he flew away.

'So, Tristana, what are you going to do then?' Rumble asked curiously.

'I'll probably stay here with Teemo. Got lots to talk about since I got into a scrap with some Noxians.'

'Mind if I, umm… stay here too? I'd also be interested to hear about your adventures.'

'Sure, why not?' Tristana responded as though Rumble had asked a question that did not need answering.  
As she began her story of a recent encounter with a Noxian who had the uncanny ability to use blood magic, Lulu capered away, chasing a red squirrel that she caught in the corner of her eye.

It looked familiar.


	28. High Risks for High Rewards

**Chapter 28** – High Risks for High Rewards

The lawless archipelago of Bilgewater was a port city that is… fascinating to say the least. Governance and regulations were nowhere to be seen, and only one unwritten rule persisted above all others: _anything_ goes.  
Just a single silver coin could get you so much in Bilgewater, or so little – depending on where you go and who you ask from. The city was drenched in a diverse community of people from different backgrounds. This included, but was not limited to, unrestrained docks gangs, practitioners of fishing and harpooning, cunning tradesman, frivolous gamblers, meticulous carpenters, and so much more: including iconic figures of both folklore and real tales.  
Bilgewater was often associated with new beginnings and people putting their past behind them. Grudges were easily made, but no thoughts were given on your past. It's rather ironic that many immigrants in Bilgewater sailed there to escape their debt, only to find that the less domineering individuals always found themselves in the nets of those asking for their loans returned. Still though, if you could put up with the salty sea and the money-lined snakes that patrolled the streets, Bilgewater thrived in opportunities to live contently and bathe in money. It was just a matter of capitalising on them, and making friends wherever you could.

The last thing he remembered clearly was the sensation of flying through the air at a speed so fast that nothing in sight correlated to any match in his brain. The impact of him hitting the water knocked the daylight out of him. Time went by as he floated in the sea like a lifeless corpse. Seeing dead bodies in the waters of Bilgewater was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was his pretentiously white coat that caught someone's eye.

'Hey, pal, are you awake?'

Roman Torchwick murmured as he felt something prod him on his stomach. He opened his eyes. 'Ugh.' They were strung by the salt in the air. 'W-wait, what's going on?' He could feel the water surrounding him and the heaviness of his clothes.

'Here, grab hold of this.'

He looked to his left and saw a wooden rowing boat with a stockpile of fish in the back. A man with greying, frizzy hair was holding out an oar.  
Torchwick grabbed it and the man pulled the oar hard, inelegantly bringing Torckwick into the boat. He sat down on the wooden plank closest to the front of the boat.

'Dropped y'ur hat and cane as well.' said the man. 'Let me get'em for ya.' He paddled the boat gently towards Torchwick's accessories and secured them with the oar. 'There ya go.'

'Umm, thanks.' Torchwick replied, still looking like he was half-asleep. Without even thinking about it, he put his bowler hat on his head. A small splash of water ran down his hair and face and he spat in disgust.

The man chuckled. 'Unfortunate, ey?' he said. 'You're not really hurt or anything, are ya?'

'A few aches here and there, and the suit is _ruined_ , but I think that I'm alright, everything considered.' Torchwick replied.

'Ya don't look nor sound like you're from here. D'ya get thrown overboard on your journey here?'

'What do you mean by that?' Torchwick asked.

'It's just that that folks here in Bilgewater never speak so posh, or wear a fancy getup like yours. I assumed that you're from Piltover.'

Torchwick cleared his throat. 'Ehem, please forgive me, but er… I have no idea what you're talking about, quite frankly.'

'Huh? That's strange, said the man, puzzled. 'Where d'ya come from then?'

'I, uhh…' Torchwick faltered. Subliminally, Emerald's voice was whispering to him in the back of his mind.  
" _she confirmed that it was_ _she who brought the moon to our own, and has also merged the planet she comes from, with Remnant._ "" _a ginormous sword-wielding beast, with wings._ "" _Aytrox…_ " " _if you asked Salem, Cinder, or anyone else there, they would tell you the exact same thing._ "

Had the General been heading towards the supposed new world? Torchwick, Emerald and Mercury were not familiar with any of the names that Ironwood has mentioned before they took off. It was certainly a possibility.

'I come from a… far away land.' said Torchwick in a sarcastically merry tone.

'And whereabouts might that be?' the man asked curiously.

'Chances are slim I reckon, but have you ever heard about this _exciting_ place called "Vale"?'

'Don't think I 'av.'

'I didn't think so.'

'Ah, well it don't matter. Your personal life ain't no concern of mine. I just went offshore for a bit a fishing and then I saw you laying in the water. Good thing I got to you before a shark or leviathan could come along and get a free meal out of ya.'

'Oh goodness, hehe. I certainly wouldn't have wanted that.' said Torchwick with his gentlemanly tone. 'I should be thanking you graciously for finding me so fortuitously. So, yeah: thank you.'

'No troubles there, mate. Now, let's get you back to bay. I can't take you home unfortunately, but land is better than just being stranded at sea.'  
He turned the boat around and rowed blindly back to shore.

'Well, I would greatly appreciate that. I feel very obliged.'

'Y'er too kind, mate. I shouldn't judge, but I feel like a soft bloke like yerself may find Bilgewater to be a bit rough.'

It was Torchwick's turn to chuckle. 'Hehe, rest assured that I am more than capable of handling myself. Back where I come from, I earned a name for myself as a very influential black hat.'

'Really now?' said the surprised fisherman. 'A sophisticated crime lord. I don't associate those two things together.'

'A true oxymoron, I know.' said Torchwick smugly. 'You wouldn't believe how many towns I got running scared and how much money I got into my pockets.'

'It's a shame that your name won't mean anything here. You may be tough, but I'd still watch your back around here. Your appearance will make you stand out, let's just say.'

'Hmm, I'll be sure to do that.'

The sail back to the harbour was thankfully not too long. Torchwick was beginning to feel cold, sitting in wet clothes.

The fisherman pulled into the wharf and tied a rope around two bollards.  
'I reckon that you're gonna need something to get you started.' He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. 'These are Silver Serpents: one of the quote on quote _official_ coins of Bilgewater.' He counted them before handing them to Torchwick. 'Here's fifty of 'em. That should get you a place to stay in an inn for a few nights.'

Torchwick inspected the coins in his hands before pocketing them. 'Gotta say, for someone that hails from a seemingly deplorable area, you sure are rather generous.' he commented.

'Don't expect any more from me, 'cause that's all I can afford to spare. Got a wife and two kids to feed.'

'Oh of course not. You've already done enough for me.' Torchwick stepped out of the boat.

'Before you go, I should give you some financial advice. Prices around here ain't fixed. Some people will ask for meagre crumbs, whilst others will charge an arm and a leg for something. I've given ya Silver Serpents, but five of 'em is about one Gold Kraken. There's a general rule of thumb that I recommend you stick to: the higher up you go, the less likely you are to drown. Bilgewater's communities up on the cliffs are more about social interactivity than the folks who work by the sea. Things are fresh at the bottom, but moving the darn stuff up the cliffs takes time and makes things more expensive. If you're looking for affordable food, I'd say you stay low, and go high to find a room. You'll be away from the docks gangs. Now, I won't say that upper Bilgewater is what you'd call high class, but it's more about relaxing than working.'

'What about _earning_ money in Bilgewater? How do I go about filling my pockets with these precious coins?'

'Plenty of ways, actually. Fishing's a pretty standard profession, since seafood's the staple of Bilgewater's food. Everyone's looking for it all the time. '

'Mhm.'

'If you were feeling more ambitious, you could become a harpooner. These guys specialise in sailing far out to see and killing giant sea monsters and leviathans. They then bring 'em back to the Slaughter Docks, where sea butchers carve 'em up into more manageable chunks. Monsters are more of a delicacy and fetch for a higher price generally for all their body parts.'

'I see.'

'More practical jobs include things like ship making, clothe weaving, and other dull stuff. If you were feeling more daring, you could go see the Bounty Board. Has a list of all the most wanted crooks in Bilgewater with Prices on their head if you bring 'em in either dead or alive. You don't know this place though, so I won't recommend that myself.'

'Anything else?'

'Hmm, now there _is_ something. It's a cultural thing really. Plenty of people get a kick out of gambling their fortunes. You a bet'ing man by any chance?'

'You know, that sounds a lot like me.' said Torchwick. A smirk drew its way onto his face.

'Hopefully you'll be in luck then. If ya go upwards, you'll see a whole bunch of bars and taverns. Me personally, if you want to go that route, I'd recommend you go to Myron's Murderhole at the very top. One of the most popular pubs for both gambling and its really darn good Myron's Dark Rum: the best drink you'll ever 'av. Every ship and her crew has a stash of it below deck. Alcohol may not be your priority right now, but I definitely say you should 'av it at least once. You won't regret it.'

'Maybe if I'm feeling good, I'll give it a shot.' said Torchwick.

'Well, alrighty then. Best you be on your way, and look out for ya-self.'

'Goodbye then.' said Torchwick, tipping his hat to the fisherman.

'Oh, one last thing. Try and avoid get'ing into trouble. It never pays off unless ya have friends to support you, because people in this place have long caught on to the tricks of taking what isn't rightfully theirs.'

Torchwick nodded before turning his back on the fisherman and headed towards the nearest stairway that led up the cliffs of Bilgewater.

The fisherman returned to fish catch and bagged it all. He had been sure to keep his distant between himself and the foreign man. Upon checking his pockets, he breathed a sigh of relief to find everything still there.

* * *

Despite being constantly under thick clouds in the evening, Bilgewater was surprisingly well lit from the various lamps and lights shining through all the windows of each individual property.

Torchwick climbed the stairs, passing by multiple people. Some were carrying crates in pairs, whilst others were walking with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Although he wasn't making direct eye contact, he could already sense that people were doing double takes and paying more attention to his passing then they would normally for anyone else. He was used to attention from both his allies and enemies alike, but there was something oddly unnerving about these people. Maybe it was just because he was in an alien world and had little idea of what to do outside of the fisherman's advice.  
He also had no idea what had happened to everyone aboard Ironwood's ship. Where were they all? He, Emerald and Mercury had not seen what had happened during their flight. All he remembered was a booming voice thundering at them. For the second time in only a few days, he would have been grateful to see Emerald and Mercury's faces again. ' _I can't believe I'm wishing for that…'_

Torchwick looked downwards to his right and saw a large stone bridge. It contrasted with the murky waters that surrounded it below as well as the general makeup of Bilgewater's artificial walkways and buildings made out of wood and metal. It shared the same property as the cliffs of being a naturally occurring structure.  
Slightly beyond the bridge, the main dockyard could be seen. Massive ships all parked in such a large area, with people on and offloading goods.  
Despite the gloomy atmosphere, the view was admittedly rather good.

The climb was high, but he eventually reached the top of the stairs and found himself on a walkway suspended high above the ground. Only a few rickety fences were there to prevent people from falling off; although there was no way that they did an excellent job.  
In particular, Torchwick found himself captivated at Bilgewater's intuitive architecture. Olds ships had been converted into buildings. Cannon gun ports had become windows, and even some of the decorative details had been preserved. This kind of nautical technology was archaic in Remnant, but the way that everything had been repurposed was ingenious for sure: Torchwick had to admit that.

It was a lot busier up there, presumably because it was evening. Had it been the day, more people would be working by the sea, as the Fisherman had said.

' _Okay, which way do I go now?_ '  
He could either go left or right. Which way though? ' _Ehh, I should just ask someone._ ' He saw a young lady exiting a door closest to his left and approached her. 'Excuse me dearie, you wouldn't happen to know where Myron's Murderhole is, would you?'

'Sure I do. Head left and keep following the path. When ya see the Glowing Lady, Murdehole will be a short walk beyond it. All the major bars are signed, so you won't miss it.'

'Wonderful, thank you very much.' Torchwick smiled.  
The lady smiled back as she walked past him. Torchwick stretched his fingers before picking up his cane again and continued moving.

Although there was still some, not as much salt saturated the air up there. Other smells were in the mix instead. Tobacco, candles, food being cooked over fires, and other humanly scents that weren't dominated by the sea. Torchwick inhaled and was pleasantly surprised by it.

As he walked, even more people took notice of him. Proportionately, most were occupied in conversation, but the plenty that were walking towards him were intrigued by his outfit. He was still in wet clothes, but the prospect of a good gamble had him hooked. ' _Maybe later I'll ask someone where I can find a clothes shop._ '

He kept a close eye on the buildings and ships that he passed. It was a miracle that this world not only spoke the same language, but also used the same writing system. Of course, it was possible that not every place had the same language, and Torchwick did notice a few signs written in something that he could not read, but getting directions so far did not seem very difficult.

' _Wait, what's this?_ ' Torchwick stopped. A ship with a sign nailed above the door. "Sailor's Inn". He turned the door handle and stepped inside. The interior of what was once a cargo-hold had been walled off into a narrow foyer and decorated with some framed paintings on the walls, of Bilgewater and some sort of monstrous head with spiralling tentacles. A counter was at the end of the corridor, with a doorway on its left leading further into the ship.  
Torchwick strolled towards the receptionist: a middle aged man with thin facial hair and dark eyes.

'How can I help you?' he asked in an anodyne tone.

'Greetings.' said Torchwick. 'I was wondering if you could help me. I've just arrived here in Bilgewater from overseas, and I'm looking for a place to stay. The sign outside says that this is an inn, so I presume you offer rooms?'

'If it's shelter you're after, you've come to the right place.'

'Great then.'

'Rent is a tad pricier than usual. A recent earthquake caused a bit of damage.'

'How much are we talking about then?'

'Usual price is twenty Silver Serpents per night. It's gone up to twenty-seven for the time being. How many nights do you want to stay here for?'

' _Dammit…_ ' 'Well… with that I have on me at the moment, I can stay for one night, maximum.' Torchwick pulled out the fifty Silver Serpents and placed them on the counter.

The innkeeper quickly counted them in his head. 'Don't have a lot them, I'm afraid.'

'I know, it's a tragedy.'

'How are you gonna sustain yourself? Why'd you come to Bilgewater, if I may ask?'

'For… job opportunities.' Torchwick lied.

'Loads of those to be found. You looking for any in particular?'

'I'm rather flexible, I would say.'

'Tell you what then, you can pay a night worth, leave the next morning and find an easy job. Fishing's not too much of a hassle. If you get more money, you can come back and rent the room again. The repairs should be done in about a week's time and it'll be back to twenty Serpents as per usual.'

'Well, I guess that can work.'

'I presume that's a "yes" then?'

'It is.'

'Cool.' The innkeeper scooped twenty-seven of Torchwick's Silver Serpents off the counter and placed them inside a wooden chest by his feet. He then opened a separate box on the floor and pulled out an iron key. He then hit a bell on the wall twice. A younger man came from the corridor.

'Take this fella to room nine.' the innkeeper instructed as he handed him the key.

The employee nodded and beckoned his hand at Torchwick.  
They walked to the end of the corridor. The door was on the left, with a staircase leading to the second deck, directly opposite. The employee inserted the key into the lock, twisted and pushed the door open. It was nothing special. A roughly cubic room with an open gun port at the back, and a low, wooden, four-legged bed pushed against the right side of the room. It had a single pillow and a grey blanket. The only other paraphernalia was a plain wooden desk and chair on the left side of the room, and a candle in a metal bracket straight above the desk.

'All rooms at twenty seven are the same.' said the employee. 'It's bare, but it'll do, right?'

'Yes, it will suffice nicely.' said Torchwick, suitably underwhelmed. He wasn't sure what to have expected, but he had envisioned something a smidge cosier.

'Good to hear. You can do what you want now, just remember to hand in the key back at ten thirty in the morning. Days and nights are longer right now, so you have an extra few hours in bed.'

'Will do.'

The employee exited the room and closed the door behind him.

Torchwick was not going to stay in his room though. He was still wet, but his desire to find Myron's Murderhole carried him forward. He strode out of the inn and turned left, continuing on his search for the bar. He made his way around a curvature in the walkway that went around a ship on the rounded side of a cliff; once again he got another spectacular view of the open sea and the docks below.  
This area was particularly lively. If it was anywhere, it was going to be nearby. Sure enough, he found The Glowing Lady. It had a very wide opening and he peered inside. The place was in a mess. Barrels and crates were broken, tables had been flipped over, broken glass and spilt drinks were all scattered all over the floor, and more than a dozen people were unconscious. It looked like a serious bar fight had taken place earlier.

Torchwick examined the mess with his eyes and gave off a whistle of surprise, hoping that Murderhole would not be in such a state.  
The lady from earlier said that it would be only a short walk from The Glowing Lady. He was bound to be reaching it soon.

Once again, he scrutinised the signs of the buildings as he walked. There it was, at last. Lit up brightly from the inside: Myron's Murderhole. Like The Glowing Lady, there were no doors and had a wide opening.  
Torchwick briefly caught the gaze of two young men. The first had hair over his right eye, a red jacket hanging loosely over his left shoulder and a cutlass by his side. The second had blue hair and goggles on his forehead, with a red jacket over a white shirt. However he paid only a second's worth of attention to their slightly out-of-place appearance. He walked into the bar and observed the setting. Mostly men, but a few women as well. Almost every table had two or more people sitting at them. Everyone was talking and in conversation, with over half of them having a drink to accompany their social evening.

He wasn't sure where to start or who to approach, so he marched towards the counter, assuming the bartender would give him some advice.

'Hey, Malcolm, look at that guy over there.' said a man, sitting at the table in the top right corner of the bar as he lightly elbowed the man sitting next to him.

Malcolm looked in the direction that his friend had indicated. His eyes instantly landed squarely on Roman Torchwick's flamboyant attire. 'What about him?' he asked.

'Don't he look interesting, like he's got a lot of stuff to spare?'

'S'pose so.' said Malcom. 'But he certainly don't look like he's from these parts.'

'Exactly. He's charming and got fancy pants on.'

'So what are you thinking then?'

'We get his attention. What else?'

* * *

Torchwick folded his arms on the counter. A young bartender came to meet him. 'Evening Sir, what can I get ya?' he said.

'I'm not really after a drink right now. I've come to Bilgewater from overseas and I'm interesting in taking a few bets with some people, getting some good winnings, you know? Is there anywhere here where I can play a few games, perhaps?'

'Ahh, well there ain't no designated spot in this here pub to gamble, but if you ask around, you'll probably find someone who'll be willing to play with ya. That's usually how it works, anyway.'

'Many thanks.' said Torchwick. He picked up his cane and slowly turn his head around the room to see if anyone took his notice.  
From one corner to the othe-

It was obvious. Far, _far_ too obvious. He had not yet made eye contact with them, but he could see that their eyes were fixated on him, and that they wore wide grins on their faces. He walked forward and then backwards. He was right: they followed his every move.  
Torchwick moved slowly towards them, but looked up at the ceiling as he went. It was only once he reached them did he then look at both of them squarely in the eyes. He put on a selfassured smile, attempting to exert confidence in front of these strangers. 'Can I help you, gentlemen?' he asked.

'I believe you can.' said the first of the two men. His grin widened even further. His dark hair was long but was combed well, and his beard and goatee were neatly trimmed. He wore a long black jacket with red stitching on the inside and a bright waistcoat underneath. He also wore a rather large hat on his head, with an Ace of Spades card tucked into the band around the base of the head. Most hypnotic of all though was the red playing card that he twirled and weaved between his fingers in his right hand. 'Mind if we ask for a moment of your time?'

'I'm in no particular hurry, so no, I don't mind.' said Torchwick.

'Then please, pull up a chair, and sit down.'

There were two chairs that he could pick from. He moved one out of the way and sat himself down in a position so that he could look at both of them at the same time.

'Care for a cigar?' the second man offered, pulling out both a cigar and a lighter from his pocket.

'If you're offering it, then sure thing. Why not?' He took the cigar and placed it in his mouth, allowing for the man to light it for him. Both the smell of the tobacco and the taste in his mouth was particularly strong.

'Never had one before?' the second man asked.

'I * _cough,_ cough* have. Just a bit more pungent than what I'm used to.' Torchwick replied, pulling out his own, wet lighter from his jacket and showed it to the two strangers. He opened it and emptied the water onto the floor. 'Pardon me. Had a small hiccup earlier and fell into the water on my way here.

He nodded. The man had a cigar of his own in his mouth. Unlike his friend, his hair was matted and untidy, with a messy beard and moustache, and he wore a filthy red cloak that was torn at the bottom. 'Cigars and tobacco here in Bilgewater are usually stronger than other places.' he said. 'I presume you're not from here.'

'You'd be right in saying that, yes.'

'Interesting, very interesting indeed.' said the man with the playing cards. 'Normally in Bilgewater, nobody gives two wharf rats about who you are and where you came from. But you… you on the other hand stood out to me.'

'Did I really? I'm touched.' said Torchwick immodestly.

'Of course you did. Never before have I seen anyone in this city walk with a bowler hat and a white coat. The way you speak as well. It's just unheard of. So, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name, and where do you come from?'

'You're _that_ interesting in me, are you?

The two men nodded.

'Let's start with the name then. You can call me Torchwick. Roman Torchwick.'

'Roman Torchwick, hey? Cool name, that's for sure.' said the man with the cigar.

'And how about you two fine men. What names do you go by?'

'The name's Graves. Malcolm Graves.'

'And they call me Tobias.' said the card wielding man.

'Malcolm and Tobias. A pleasure to meet you.' said Torchwick, offering his hand to them. They both took it with firm grips.

'And what about your travels? Where is home for you?' Tobias asked.

'Someone asked me the same question earlier when I arrived. You've probably never heard of it.'

'Try us.' said Graves.

'Do you know of a place called "Vale"?'

'Don't ring a bell from the top of my head. You know it, Tobias?'

'Nope.'

'It's _very_ , far away.' said Torchwick.

'What brings you to Bilgewater then, Roman? Why travel so far to here in particular?' Tobias asked.

'Job opportunities. Employment in Vale is a bit haywire at the moment. If I am not being deceived, Bilgewater houses a whole load of ways to make a living.'

'Depends where you go looking, but yeah, you'd be right.' said Graves. 'You sure that Bilgewater's your kind'a place though? Ya gotta enjoy the lifestyle and the folks as much as your job and the money.'

'I do have my doubts... but I'm going to remain as optimistic as possible. Besides, I can't help but notice how Tobias here is having an awful lot of fun fiddling with that there playing card.'

Tobias eyed his card, and then smiled at Torchwick.

'I would consider myself to be a betting man.' Torchwick continued. 'So, I'm guessing that you are too?'

Tobias and Graves exchanged gleeful smiles.  
'Oh, he's going there.' said Tobias.

'He sure is.' said Graves.

'Yes, I am.' Tobias confirmed.

'Fancy a game then?' Torchwick offered.

'Roman, my friend, there's never a moment when I'm not up for a game. It's one of Bilgewater's greatest pastimes.'

'Sounds perfect to me.'

'What d'ya wanna play then?' Tobias asked as he brought out a deck of cards from his jacket. The design on the backs were of a dark green with a curved serpent down the centre, lengthwise. 'What kinda games do you play in Vale?'

'Hmm, cultural differences…' They spoke the same language, and _somehow_ used the same playing cards, but the odds of them playing the exact same games was especially low. 'How about you give me a list of card games that you play? Ones that are commonplace in Bilgewater.'

'Let's seen then… I would've said Bilgewater hold 'em, but Poker's better played with four or more people. Same with Captains and Sailors: a great game but there needs to be more of us. Actually, a better question would be, how much money are you willing to risk?' asked Tobias.

'Not a lot at the moment, sadly. The currency that I use in Vale obviously doesn't have any value here, so I only got fifty Silver Serpents from a fisherman after a did a favour for him. I already spent twenty-seven just to get a room at Sailor's Inn.'

'No troubles.' said Tobias. How about we let the first game be a warmup? No money and no stakes? What do ya say?'

Torchwick nodded and smiled. 'I'll be on board with that.'

'Okay then, let's start with something simple. Have you ever played Go Fish?'

'The one where you have to create as many Four-of-a-Kinds as possible?'

'Exactly.'

'Then yes, I have.' said Torchwick.

Graves made some space between himself and Tobias by moving his chair to the right.

Tobias removed the Jokers and put them back in his jacket before he split the deck into two and shuffled them in his hands. It was mesmerising how smoothly the cards reorganised themselves like magic. He then placed five cards in front of Torchwick, himself and Graves, and put the deck in the middle.

They all picked up their cards and help them up to their faces.

'Who wants to start first?' Graves asked.

'How about we let our guest start first? You good with that, Roman?'

'Perfectly fine with me.' he said. Torchwick organised his cards from lowest to highest. Already his hand was not particularly good. Four of Diamonds, Five of Spades, Six of Hearts, Seven of Clubs and King of Diamonds. ' _Not even a single pair… This is going to be interesting._ ' He had no basis for asking anyone for any value in particular, so anything would do. 'Malcolm, do you have any… Sixes?'

'I do.' he said and handed two cards over to Torchwick. The Six of Clubs and Spades.

' _Hehe, what a strike._ ' 'Tobias, do _you_ have a six you could lend me?'

'Sorry pal, I ain't got any. Go fish.' Tobias smiled.

Torchwick nodded and picked up the top card of the centre deck. Two of Spades.

Graves was clockwise of Torchwick, so it was his turn. 'Hmm.' He adjusted the cigar in his mouth as he inspected his card and contemplated his turn.  
'Tobias, you got any Tens?' he asked after seven seconds.

'Don't got Tens I'm afraid, hotshot. Go fish.'

Graves shook his head and picked up a card from the pile.

Tobias winked at him. 'Roman, ya got any Sevens?'

Torchwick made sure to keep a straight face as he surrendered his Seven of Clubs.

'Cheers. Malcolm, you got Sevens as well?

Graves handed over a card. 'I can tell you're already enjoying yourself.' he said.

'Getting cards in Go Fish is always fun.' Tobias smirked. 'How about Threes, Malcolm? Got any Threes in your hand?'

Graves scoffed as he handed over another card to Tobias.

'Roman, you got Threes for me?'

'Sorry Tobias, time for you to Go Fish.'

He picked up a card from the pile and placed it in his hand. The first cycle was over.

' _It's not worth asking to see if they've fished for anymore Sixes…_ ' 'Tobias, have you got any Fives?'

'Go Fish, Roman.'

' _Ten of Hearts. Malcolm asked for a ten from Tobias. I wonder how many he's got.'_

'Roman, got any Jacks?' Graves inquired.

'Nope, Go Fish.'

Tobias rubbed his cards together. 'Got any Queens, Roman?'

'Try and Go Fishing for one.'

Tobias chuckled at the joke as he picked up another card.

'My dear friend Malcolm, have you got any Tens on your possession?' Torchwick asked.

'Sure do…' He only had one. Ten of Diamonds.

' _Better than nothing. I'll assume that Tobias still doesn't have one. So maybe two will get me something._ ' 'So Malcolm, how about the number two?'

'Robbing me of all my cards.' said Graves as he gave Torchwick his Two of Clubs.

'Any Twos for me, Tobias?' said Torchwick.

'Can't provide. Go Fish, Roman.'

' _Five of Hearts. Dammit, so many pairs, but no four-of-a-kinds. I've just got to keep tabs on what they're asking for.'_

'Got any Jacks, Tobias?' said Graves, spinning his one and only card in his hand.'

'Nah, go Fish, partner.'

Torchwick noticed as he picked up the card that Graves let off a brief smile.

Tobias looked at Torchwick in the eye. 'Nines, by any chance?'

Torchwick shook his head. 'Go Fish.'

* * *

It had come down to the last three cards on the pile.

Torchwick was in the lead so far, with four Four-of-a-Kinds for: Fours, Sixes, Sevens and Queens. In his hands, he held The Five of Hearts, Spades and Clubs.

Tobias was second, with Four-of-a-Kinds for: Threes, Eights and Nines.

Graves only had two Four-of-a-Kinds for: Tens and Jacks.

It was Torchwick's turns. This could be it. 'Tobias, have you got any Fives?'

'Nope. Go Fish.'

He slowly picked up the card and turned it over. Five of Diamonds. ' _Yes!_ ' He slammed down the Fives next to his other Four-of-a-Kinds and rubbed his hands together. He was out.

'Nicely done, Roman.' said Tobias, still wearing the same smile he had had since the beginning of the game.

The game was almost over. Graves made his move. 'Do you have any Aces?' he asked Tobias.

'All yours, my good friend.'

He placed down his four Aces. 'How about Twos?'

'None here. Go Fish.'

Luck of the draw. The last Two. Graves was out.

Tobias picked up the last card to form Four Kings.

Torchwick stretched his fingers triumphantly. He had five points, Tobias and Graves only had four. 'Haha, that felt good.' he said cockily.

'Shame that there's no money then.' said Tobias.

'True, but now that I'm warmed up, I'm ready to make some money.'

'I really do like your confidence, I must say. Makes things more exciting.'

'Shall we up the ante then with some money?' Torchwick suggested.

'All or nothing?' said Tobias.

'Why not?'

'You don't have a lot of money on your person though. That's the thing.' said Graves. 'But I'll make you a deal. I'll let this be a duel between you two. I'll lend you an extra two Gold Krakens and thirty-three Silver Serpents to bring up your number to seventy bits in total. Tobias will put it seventy bits too. If you win, you walk away with one hundred and forty bits. If you lose, you're at zero. Does that sound good?'

'It most certainly does.'

Tobias and Graves nodded at each other.

'Very well.' said Tobias. He pulled out a sachet from his coat and emptied a bunch of Silver Serpents and a few Golden Krakens onto the table. He counted out seventy pieces and returned the rest of it to his jacket.  
Graves also pulled out a bag of money and put forty-seven pieces on top of Roman's twenty-three pieces.

'Have you ever played Rummy before?' Tobias asked Torchwick.

'Remind me, is that the one where you have to get rid of all your cards into melds?'

'You know that one too, hey? It's good playing with someone who's experienced. Fair games are more fun than one-sided ones.'

'Sometimes I get a kick from picking on those who are at a disadvantage, but I know what you mean. Challenges are usually more exciting.'

Tobias collected all the cards from the previous game and reshuffled them, using the same eye-catching technique as last time. He then distributed ten cards to Roman before placing ten in front of himself. 'I'm gonna begin this time, because you started for the first game. That alright with you?'

'Doesn't bother me in the slightest.'

'Lookin' good then.' said Tobias. His smirk was still there, but it had weakened slightly. He started by picking up the first card on the deck. He nodded, and instantly placed down two melds: three Threes of Diamonds, Spades and Hearts, and three Sixes of Diamonds, Spades and Clubs. He finished the round by discarding Ten of Hearts. Already he was down to four cards.

Torchwick managed to hide his surprise, but he could tell that Tobias knew that he was startled. He picked the Ten of Hearts and analysed his cards. ' _Woah, actually_ I _can put a lot of cards down myself._ ' he added his Three of Clubs to Tobias' meld of Threes, placed down a meld of three Tens of Clubs, Hearts of Diamonds and finished by placing down another meld of consecutive Spades: Jack, Queen and King before discarding Seven of Diamonds. Three cards left: Aces of Spades, Four of Spades and Queen of Diamonds. ' _Wow, this game is going really quickly. I should've asked for it to be a best of three._ '

Tobias picked up a card but did not place or add to a Meld and instead ended his turn by simply discarding a card: the Queen of Hearts.

' _Well, I guess if I win this game, I would be better of me to just take the money and not risk losing it again._ ' Torchwick picked up the discarded Queen of Hearts. One Queen was already in a meld, but if he could get the Queen of Clubs, he could place down three Queens in a meld and discard the remaining card. His heart was pounding. It had been a while since he had played cards with real money, and the familiar rush of blood pumping through his body made everything feel more intense. ' _Do I get rid of the Four of Spades, or Ace of Spades._ ' he contemplated. There was no logical way of deciding. He might as well flip a coin. ' _I'll get rid of… Four of Spades. The Ace is often cited as a lucky Card.'_

Tobias picked up a fresh card. The full size of his smirk returned. The look on his face was surprisingly hard to read. One would have thought that constant smiling would be indicative of something, but Torchwick was not so sure with someone as sly as Tobias.  
He returned a Nine of Clubs to the discard pile.

Torchwick pleaded that he would get the Queen of Clubs. ' _Please, please…_ ' Jack of Diamonds… ' _Damn._ _Oh well. Maybe next time._ ' He returned the Jack of Diamonds.

Tobias picked up the next fresh card, and sighed, giving Torchwick a feigned look of sympathy. He placed Six of Hearts onto the meld of Sixes, Ten of Spades onto the meld of Tens, a new meld of Aces: the Ace of Hearts, Diamonds and Spades, and placed Four of Clubs onto the Discard Pile. All his cards were gone.

Torchwick dropped his three cards and stared at Tobias' empty hands. 'W-what? H-how...?'

'It's just all in the cards, Roman. Sorry to say that they just weren't on your side this game.'

'Grr…' Torchwick grunted. He watched miserably as Tobias wrapped his arms around his precious few coins and brought them across the table into his sachet.

'Good game though.' said Tobias, holding out his hand towards Torchwick.

'Yeah. A bet's a bet after all.' Torchwick took it and they shook hands. He was becoming increasingly more exasperated by the look on their faces – just grinning nonstop. He looked downwards at the cards, which were still on the table, to avoid making too much more eye contact with th- ' _Hand on a minute…'_ Torchwick looked at his three cards he had not managed to get rid of:  
A Queen of Diamonds, Queen of Hearts and an Ace of Spades.

He then looked at the meld of Aces that Tobias had put down:  
An Ace of Hearts, Ace of Diamonds and Ace of… _Spades…_

'You cheated…' Torchwick muttered.

'Excuse me?' said Tobias.

'You cheated.' said Torchwick a little louder.

'What do you mean?'

'You cheated! Look!' Torchwick stood up. 'See this?! An Ace of Spades was in my hand! There's also an Ace of Spades in this meld right here! Explain to me why there are two of the same card!'

'Roman, my friend, please calm down. I won this game fair and square. We're grownups here. You should know better than to throw a tantrum at a loss.' said Tobias.

'Don't play innocent with me!' Torchwick yelled. You cheated! Give me my money back! Or I swear I'll r-'  
He held his hands up in the air and stepped back, laughing nervously.

'I'd watch your tongue if I were you…' said Graves menacingly, pointing a large shotgun with two barrels straight at Torchwick's head. 'We gave you our time for some nice card games, and I even gave you money freely. You have some nerve to shout at my good friend here and falsely accuse him of playing dirty.'

'Hehe, you're right, you're right.' said Torchwick quickly. 'I was just… overreacting. Please beg my pardon. I often lose my temper when things don't quite go my way.'

Graves stood up. 'Seems like you need to learn how to look at defeat in the face.' He moved towards Torchwick, forcing him backwards with the barrel of the gun. The whole of the pub's attention was on them. 'Now, you're gonna leave this here bar, and you're not gonna show your face around here again for the rest of the night. You come back here tomorrow at this time, with at least thirty Silver Serpents, and you're gonna apologise for your bad manners... Have I made myself clear, Roman?'

'Yes, Malcolm. You could not be clearer if you tried. Hehe…'

'I'm glad to hear it. Now get out of our sight.'

Torchwick quickly retrieved his cane from under the table before making a mad dash to the outside of the pub. He stumbled into a table along the way, occupied by the same oddly dressed boys who were outside when he first went in.  
Within seconds, he was outside and ran right, in the complete opposite direction of the Inn.

Tobias took the Ace of Spades from his meld and placed it back in the band on his hat.

'Can't believe it took him that long to realise.' Graves laughed.

'They never do. Not when they're so focused on winning and money's on the line.'

* * *

He went until he was out of breath. He had taken a flight of stairs off the upper walkways of Bilgewater, down to the floor again and ended up in a more rural area, with tall grass next to a long, wide river, and trees creating a dark canopy overhead.  
Interestingly, the river was lit up by a few light blue lanterns hanging from wooden posts, and a canoe boat was parked next to one, against the bank. Torchwick gazed at the river and the trees it was rather pretty looking, even in the dark. It was probably the lanterns that gave it an aesthetically pretty look.

*Squelch*

Torchwick turned around. It was dark, but he couldn't see anything behind him. He shook his head and returned his attention to the river. He did not know where the river led, and it was probably not worth finding out, if it were not for a melodious sound that soothed his ears. It sounded like a slow playing guitar, with a bit of humming to go along with it. It almost made him forget about what had just happened in Murderhole.

Walking into an unknown forest late in the evening was not a good idea. Torchwick himself knew it, but curiosity to find out what the sound was took over. He followed the river and the sound, wondering deeper into an unknown world of mystery.

The tune became louder, but only gradually.

*Squelch*

There was no mistaking that sound of the mud was coming from behind him, but the tune kept him moving forward. As he went further in, the tune was louder than the squelches behind him. It was like he was directly next the to the composer, and then he saw it, sitting on the other side of the river.

A gigantic creature that was indescribably odd, with fishy, frog-like skin, piercing yellow eyes, and a mouth so large that it could swallow people whole, yet it wore a trench coat around its enormous body, and a top hat with a red ribbon around it, which was far better suited for a human's head. The beast held its own long tongue out of its mouth with its left hand and was flicking it with the fingers of its right hand – like a string instrument.

'What the?!' Torchwick cried out in shock, unsure of what do.

The creature was looking at him with a devilish stare, but the tune was so alluring. After five seconds of Torchwick standing still, it let go of its tongue, and it flew back into its mouth.  
'Please, excuse my song.' it suddenly said. Its voice was incredibly deep. 'The tune's purpose was your attention, for I saw you on the run with troubles, and I can offer absolutions.'

Torchwick edged closer to the river. 'What… are you talking about?' he asked tentatively.

'Hehe, boy, you are as open as a door without a lock. You look dishevelled and disconcerted, like you're carrying a burden on your back that's bigger than a full moon. Do you wish to be emancipated from your tribulations?'

'Well, I gotta say that I don't exactly know who or _what_ you are. What services can you provide to me?'

'Anything you crave, boy. Anything that your heart desires.'

'Anything at all, you say. Hmm. Can you get me money then?'

'Money is an indispensable component of a happy life, yet so many people owe it due and only the finest of folk have enough to spare.'

The creature stepped into the river and waded towards Torchwick.

'Woah, not so close!' said Torchwick, who was naturally intimidated by its overbearing size.

'Stay unperturbed, my child.' said the beast. It opened its trench coat and tossed a small bag towards Torchwick.

He moved out of the way and only picked it up dubiously with his thumb and forefinger. 'Ugh…'

'No reason to be so nervous around an innocuous bag of coins.' the beast laughed. 'The very contents of that bag right there are thirty Silver Serpents.'

'Great. Thanks.' said Torchwick. What was he supposed to say in front of this giant, loquacious frog?

'However, the offer does not end there.' the creature continued. 'I'm sure you can tell. You could walk away with just a measly bag of coins, but why not stay and be rewarded with a whole sack of money instead?'

'Where are you going with this?'

'Allow me to elaborate. You see, I've got voracity, that ain't easily sated, but those proud men of the city never have a table reserved for yours truly. So, I need good natured, altruistic men like yourself to let me in.'

'And what would that involve exactly?'

'The price? It's a minuscule thing. Bring me a fish – any kinda fish – and give it to me. Do that, and I'll give you a bag of forty Silver Serpents, the next time you come and see me. All bargains I offer are as easy to fulfil as finding and catching a snail on a rainy day.'

Torchwick thought about it. The deal seemed too good to be true. How could he trust a monster, of all things, that he had only just met?  
Did it really matter though? He now had exactly enough money to give to Tobias and Graves, and would be content with just that, but the creature's reasoning was true. If he could adhere to his end of the bargain, he could get even more money. ' _Ehh, why not? This offer's all I've got going for me at the moment._ ' 'Alright, you've got yourself a deal.' said Torchwick.

The creature chuckled. 'Now _those_ are words I like to hear.' he said. 'Farewell, young man, and remember, if you're ever in any trouble, you're safe in my abode.'

'Err, sure. I got it.'

'Hehe, the world's one big river, and I'm its king. Ain't no place I ain't been. Ain't no place I can't go again. If troubles encroach, call upon the epithet of Tahm Kench, the River King.' With his mouth finally shut, he dove into the river and swam out to who knows where.

Torchwick turned his back on the river and made his way back to Bilgewater. He was hungry, tired and still wet.

It began to rain.

Amid the nearby trees, someone let out a girly shriek.

* * *

Credit to **'** _ **brave kid'** _for the idea of Roman Torchwick gambling with Twisted Fate.


	29. Of Blood and Fear

**Chapter 29** – Of Blood and Fear

'Please make this spinning stop!' Scarlet cried out as he soared through the air. It felt like over an hour had passed, even though it had only been a few minutes at most. Like many Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, he had plenty of experience of being launched into the air, but gaining control of your body once you lost it was very hard, especially when you're panicking.

However, he had been travelling long enough to gauge where he was: above a body of water. He tensed his muscles as the pull of the planet brought him down. ' _C'mon, c'mon, straighten out!_ ' He recovered his body control and assumed a gliding position. He put his arms straight in front of him, with his fingers pointed and tightly closed, and kept his legs straight and locked together. The water rose to meet him; he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Hydrodynamics took over from gravity as his momentum was preserved, and he dove below the surface and swam like a torpedo.

Scarlet decelerated and eventually came to a stop, breaching the surface for air. He treaded water and looked around him. How luck would have it that land was in sight, albeit a few hundred metres away.  
He heard someone screaming, to his left. He turned and saw a blue-haired boy flailing his arms and desperately trying to not sink.  
'Neptune!' Scarlet entered a front crawl stroke and swam as fast as he could towards his friend. He didn't seem to be getting any closer.

Finally, he was within five metres. Neptune went below the surface, unable to stay afloat.  
'Neptune, hang on!' Scarlet took another deep and dove down. He couldn't even squint his eyes in the salty water, so he had to blindly reach out with his hands. ' _Where are you, Neptune?!_ '  
Something hit him on his right arm. ' _There!_ ' Scarlet managed to get his arms underneath Neptune's armpits. Kicking his legs as hard as he could, Scarlet brought Neptune back to the surface.

Neptune spluttered out seawater and inhaled, but his panic was still there. 'Help! Help!'

'Neptune, please calm down! I've got you!'

'Scarlet?!'

'Yes, it's me! Float on your back, and I'll swim us to shore!'

'How do I do that?!'

'You just… ugh.' Scarlet reached down and pulled Neptune's ankles to the surface, meanwhile holding his back steady. 'Spread your legs and your arms out. It'll stop you from sinking.'

'O-okay…' Neptune did as he was told. It was hard because his limps were shaking in fright.

'Neptune, just relax; you're safe. Think about Weiss or something.'

'U-oh yeah, Weiss. Sure thing.'

Scarlet gently put his left thumb and forefinger under Neptune's chin, whilst using his right arm and legs to swim them to shore. The long distance was amplified by the weight of their clothes and the slow paddles that Scarlet had to make to preserve his energy. Swimming with boots also made it very awkward. ' _Please stay chill, Neptune. It's like you always say: be cool._ '

'I can't see! How much longer do we have?!' Neptune inquired.

'About halfway there!'

'Man, please hurry! The water's cold and I can't stop shaking!'

'Just be patient, cuz we'll be there soon!'

Neptune closed his eyes, to prevent saltwater from splashing into them, and also to hide himself in his thoughts and imagination. He remembered how pretty Weiss had been at the Beacon Dance. That felt like it had been a long time ago, even though they were technically still in the time period of their second semester.  
' _She was on-board the ship as we were all heading to Ionia. I wonder what happened to her, and everyone else for that matter._ _Hopefully they're all okay._ '

'Finally, we're here.' said Scarlet. He briefly let go of Neptune and used his hands to push himself onto the wharf. He then put his hands and arms underneath armpits once again and pulled him to safety. With delicacy, he removed Neptune's jacket and weapon and loosened his tie.

Neptune laid spread-eagle and took deep breathes. 'You're a lifesaver, dude.'

'You really gotta learn how to swim…' said Scarlet as he sat against the stone wall next to the wharf

'You know I can't do that.'

'Yes you can. You just need to get over your fear of water.'

'I'm not afraid of water. We've established that already.'

'C'mon, if you're not, then you have no excuse to not learn.'

'Change of subject: where do you think everyone is?'

'Umm, dunno.'

'You think they're around here, like in the sea or something?'

'Hard to say. Maybe we all ended up in different places.'

'You reckon? Hate to imagine them all being stranded in the sea.' Neptune shivered.

'When you're ready, we should check out this place and see what we can find or if we can get any help.'

'Yeah. Just give me a minute.'

A short man with two missing teeth walked down from the sidewalk above to the wharf. He saw Scarlet and Neptune. 'Oi, kids, you in trouble?'

'Huh?' Scarlet stood up and faced the man. 'No we're fine. My friend here is just recovering after nearly drowning.'

'Oh, I understand. Still though, I need you two to move. We're unloading here.' the man said, pointing to a ship that was slowly approaching the docks.

'No worries, we can move. C'mon Neptune.'

Neptune stood up, carried his jacket by his side, and hugged the wall as they walked past the man and headed inland. 'So what do we do now?'

'Maybe we could see if we can find anyone we know.'

'I wouldn't count on it. It's probably better if we find food, water and shelter. Don't think we have a way out of this place, and ain't no way I'm going near the water again.'

'Survival skills. Got it.'

With no clue where to go, they looked around to see if anything or anyone caught their attention. The area was bustling with activity. Men and women alike were carrying crates, counting fish, cutting catches, exchanging goods and chatting.  
'Does anyone stand out to you?' Neptune asked.

'I don't think it really matters. Anyone will probably be able to give us some advice.'

They approached a young-looking fisherman, who was sitting on a crate and drinking something out of a bottle.  
'Hey pal, umm, do you know where can we find food and water?' said Neptune awkwardly.

The fisherman lowered the bottle and wiped his lips with his left hand. 'It's all around you, lad.' He laughed. 'Fish and seawater for miles and miles around.'

'Great, but can we get anything without, you know, having to actually go to the sea itself?'

'What's wrong with a bit of seawater, ey?'

'N-nothing. I'd just rather have easy access to it and not have to come here and get it every time.' said Neptune, who was not entirely sure what he was saying.

'If you've got money in ya pocket, you can ask a whole load of guys here who can sell ya any fish. Either that or just go up the cliffs and find a pub that sells ya cooked fished and side foods. Get plen'y a good drinks up there too. If you're after fresh water, you gotta either go to the river or the sea, take the water, and boil it until it's safe to drink. Guess you lads ain't from Bilgewater?'

'…is that the name of this place?' said Scarlet.

'T'is right. How'd ya get to this place, anyhow?'

'We… flew here.' said Neptune in a joking tone.

'Haha, ya don't look like birds to me. Well, it's no bother of mine. Ya might wanna get some money though. Things are either cheap, reasonable or stupidly expensive, but are rarely free here.'

'And how do we get money?' Neptune asked.

'Many ways to go about it. It seems ya don't like fishing, but it feeds or pays fairly well, I can tell ya that. Going to the Slaughter Docks and carving up big sea monsters is pretty good too. Other no-skilled jobs might be cleaning or serving in shops and bars. It's all dirty work, but someone's gotta do it. Only other thing I can say is that ya stay away from jobs that require prior experience, or dodgy stuff.'

'Thank you.' said Scarlet.

'Yeah. Cheers, man.' said Neptune.

'No problem, mates. Just watch ya-selves.' said the fisherman. He got up, picked up the crate he had been sitting on, and moved it towards the nearest ship.

'Let me guess. You would rather be away from the sea?' Scarlet asked, although he knew what Neptune's answer was going to be.

'Duh, of course I would. So let's head up the cliffs.'

They headed towards a nearby stone stairway, taking two steps at a time. A wonderful view presented itself to them. Ships were neatly parked in the docks and a long, stone bridge was noticeable pleasing to look at down below.  
Plenty of people were moving past, carrying crates and goods, or just making their way up or down.

At the top, they were presented with two options: go left or right.  
'Where should we go?' said Scarlet.

'My gut feeling is telling me to go left.' Neptune replied.

'How come?'

'I dunno. It just is.'

'Well, I don't have any objections, so we might as well.'

The walkway was attached to the cliff, with buildings mostly comprised of old ships and other wooden structures. The ingenuity and efficiency of the materials used was quite impressive. As they walked, they noticed that a few people were giving them funny looks. Maybe it was their appearance: especially Neptune's.

'Are we going to stop at some point and check if we can find food or a job up here?' Scarlet asked.

'Yeah, I guess so. It's just about finding one suited to us.'

'And what exactly is suited for _us_ in particular?'

'Something where we'll stay dry.'

'Doesn't seem like there's many of those in this kind of place.'

'I'm still going to look for one though.'

'How about we try one of these little shops, then?'

'Alright. Here's one. Let's go inside.'

* * *

They opened the door to the little building and walked over the threshold. The interior was quite small, Shelves went along the walls and centre of the room. The left side had components used for fishing, including rope, nets, hooks, and daggers. The right side was lined up with various tools, such as hammers, nails and saws. The shelf in the middle contained accessories: namely baits and guides on how to fish or construct things through carpentry. At the back of the shop, next to the counter, was a display of fish, which was being preserved in ice. There were even a few species that they did not recognise.  
Scarlet and Neptune went to the cashier who was standing behind the till. He was young – probably only a few years older than Scarlet and Neptune themselves – and had very short hair.

'What's up?' said the cashier in a lackadaisical tone.

'Hey there. Are you hiring people at the moment?' Neptune asked.

'You wanna job?

'Yeah. Do you have any available?'

'Afraid not at the moment. Little stores like these don't need many hands on deck. Are you looking for any kinda work in particular?'

'Nothing specific, just so long as we're not too close to the sea.'

'Bit of a thin range of choices then.' the cashier remarked.

'I told you this is gonna be the case.' said Scarlet.

'Can you think of anywhere at all up on these cliffs were we could earn money?'

'Umm… you could try working at a bar. Especially at night when everyone's socialising, people are demanding for drinks, and the bartender can't keep with all the people he's trying to serve. There's a few good bars up here. Myron's Murderhole is the most popular, but The Glowing Lady's also good. It'll soon be the around that time when working hours are over, and everyone comes from the docks to socialise up here. Maybe you could give that a try.'

'It's worth a shot.' said Scarlet.

'Yeah. Where are the bars?'

'If you turn right when ya leave, just keep following the walkway and you'll soon see a sign which reads: "The Glowing Lady" You can't possibly miss it. A short walk onwards and you'll find Murderhole too.'

'Let's do it.' said Neptune. 'Thanks, dude.'

'No worries.' said the cashier.

They waved and left the store.

'Hopefully this'll work.' said Neptune.

'Hopefully the pay's good. We don't know how much things generally cost. That guy we saw earlier didn't give us a clear answer.'

'Let's not worry about that just yet. Surely we won't need much for a meal. I just kinda wish there was more than fish on offer.'

'Maybe there is, but fish is probably easier to get your hands on when you're surrounded by the sea.'

'True, and we can't be picky eaters right now.'

The walk to The Glowing Lady was rather short from the shop. They passed more makeshift buildings, stores, and even an inn along the way until they found it.  
It did not have any doors, and instead had a wide-open space, allowing groups of people to walk in and out as they pleased. A couple dozen people were sat at various tables, whilst chatting, drinking and smoking.

Scarlet and Neptune went towards the counter and queued up behind two gritty men.

'Did ya hear?' said the first man, with a missing tooth and a black eye.

'Hear what, ya say?' said the second, with a scarred, but rather handsome face.

'The Scourge.'

'What d'ya mean?'

'The Captain. He's back.'

'You mean… Gangplank?'

'Yeah. The one and only.'

'What are ya talking about?'

'He's alive. I swear by the Bearded Lady, he is.'

'But, I thought he was gone. Ma'am Fortune took him down, didn't she?'

'That's what I thought as well, but just the other day, I saw the Bounty Board, and I see his name written there in blood, with a high price on his head. You knew how he used to always do that, right? Putting it there himself to as a challenge to us lot.'

'He was a nasty piece of work, for sure, but he's still human. Could be a joke by made by somebody.'

'Maybe, but not quite. My mates and I were by the Slaughter Docks, and we see 'im. T'weren't anyone else it could be; that mean beard and scars says it all. Even saw that he had a new metal arm. He took some Noxian's ship with ease and loaded it with everything he's got: pistols, barrels of gunpowder, and even oranges.'

'Huh… well alright then. What ya say we do then?'

'Stay out of his way. I dunno 'bout you, but I'd rather not be in the warzone, 'cause it's coming for sure.'

'You and me both then.'

* * *

Scarlet and Neptune were only waiting for a few minutes until the queue had cleared and they were next to the bar.

'Evening boys.' said the tall, young bartender.

'Yo, how you are doing?' Neptune returned.

The bartender looked at their faces. 'You're… a bit young, ain't ya?'

' _Maybe_ , but we're not actually here for a drink.' Neptune continued. 'We're looking for work, because we just arrived here in… Bilgewater, for the first time. Yeah, that's the name of the place. Do you have any jobs that me and my friend here could take?'

The bartender scratched his chin. 'I mean, if you can count money, swab floors, scrub tables, pour drinks, carry heavy stuff and be nice to guests, then an extra pair of hands could be useful.'

'Sounds good to me. Doesn't it Scarlet.'

'Hmm, yeah, I agree.'

'Alright, come this way then.' The bartender beckoned them to come behind the counter as he lifted the flap upwards to let them through. 'Be with ya in a sec.' he said to the next person in the queue before he showed Scarlet and Neptune the workstation. The area behind the counter was rectangular and contained all the essential equipment, with a door in the right corner that led to all the extra storage space.  
'So down there, ya got all ya boxes of drinks. They're all labelled. When someone gives you an order, either take a bottle, pour some of it into a glass and serve it, or give 'em an entire bottle. Glasses are all in that cabinet, up there, and bottle openers, corkscrews and silverware are in the draws underneath the counter. You'll also see that there's a bucket of ice. Put three cubes in a glass if they ask for it. The sign right there says everything ya need to know:' He pointed to a list of prices stuck against the wall behind them. 'Ya said you're new to Bilgewater, right?'

Scarlet and Neptune nodded.

'Just to let ya know then, the money you're dealing with are Silver Serpents and Gold Krakens. Serpents are the lowest value, and Krakens are worth five Serpents. Put the money into the chest, right there,' He pointed under the counter at a worn-out chest with blood markings on top. 'and give 'em change where needed. If ya can count past fifteen, ya should be good. Any mess and you get a mop and broom in the storage, on ya left. Got all that?'

'Yep, shouldn't be too much to handle.' said Neptune confidently.

'Absolutely.' Scarlet agreed.

'Welcome aboard then. What are ya names?'

'I'm Neptune.'

'And I'm Scarlet.'

The bartender shook hands with both of them. 'You can call me Mast. Right then, I'm off to the back. I'm expecting some more beer to be delivered tonight. I'll also tell Rusty that we got two new boys working for us. Catch ya in a bit.'

'See ya.'  
Scarlet and Neptune waved as Mast went through the back door.

'Nice! The job's ours, so let's make some money.' said Neptune jubilantly. He stretched both of his hands and went to the counter. 'Sorry to keep you waiting.' Neptune said, smiling to the customer. 'What can I get you?'

'It's that easy to get work, is it?' the man laughed. He had a large belly and a thick moustache. 'A simple glass of beer will do for me.'

'Okay, that's… three Silver Serpents.' said Neptune as he checked the price list. He reached into the box labelled "Bilgewater Beer", and pulled out a bottle, whilst Scarlet took out a glass from the cabinet and a bottle opener from the drawer. Neptune gave Scarlet the bottle and he flicked the lid off before gently serving its contents to the customer.

The customer placed down three Silver Serpents, and Neptune delicately pushed the glass towards him. 'Enjoy your beer.'

'Many thanks, lads.'

The next customer stepped forward. He was beefy and lightly muscular, with dark brown clothing all over. 'Hi there, boys. I'd like two Dark Rums.'

'Coming right up.' said Neptune.

'Oh, and just to let ya know, I'm gonna go outside for a quick smoke with my mates. If I leave ya a Kraken and a Serpent, would ya mind if one of ya brings 'em to that table over there?' he inquired, pointing to the table in the middle of the bar, one removed from the right-side wall.

'No problem at all.' Neptune replied.

'Cheers, boys. Appreciate it.' He slapped the two coins on the counter and scooted past the other customers as he exited the bar and turned left.

Scarlet and Neptune placed the money in the chest and prepared the drinks.  
'Do you want to go and put them on the table then?' Scarlet asked.

'Yeah, fine by me.' Neptune lifted the flap and firmly clasped the two glasses. 'Excuse me, guys.' he said as he squeezed past the queue.

'How can I help?' Scarlet said, welcoming their third customer.

Neptune weaved his way through packed tables to the one he had been instructed to deliver the drinks to. ' _This is a piece of cake so far. I wonder why he ordered two drinks though. Is the dude gonna have them both to himself?'_ No. Someone else was already at the table. Neptune's heart skipped a beat as his eyes found a beautiful, young woman. She looked similar to Yang: long, blonde hair, a pretty face, and a large bosom. She wore a pair of knee-high leather boots, a short brown dress over her figure, and a grey coat on top.  
She smiled and waved at Neptune as he approached. 'Hi there. Is that my Dark Rum?'

'Yep: already been paid for.' Neptune confirmed. He placed the glasses on the table and hesitantly turned around.

'I'm curious.' she said suddenly. 'Ya got some interesting clothes on. I've never seen those garments before in my life.

'Oh, um, I'm not from here. I guess that's why you've never seen them before.'

'That explains it then. Well, I like it. Ya look mighty stylish.'

'Thanks. Uh, you too.'

She laughed and took a sip of her drink. 'Oh, sorry. Am I distracting ya from working?'

'No, of course not.' said Neptune without thinking about his answer.

'Why don't ya sit down then for a bit? Be good to know more about ya. Whereabouts do ya hail from?'

Neptune ran his hand through his hair and pulled out a barrel from under the table. 'You've probably never heard of it.'

'Say the name. Maybe I will have.'

'Mistral.'

' _Mistral..._ hmm. Well you're right. The name don't tell me anything. Sure must be a fine place though if it gives us boys like you.'

' _Whoa, is this going somewhere?!_ ' 'And Bilgewater must be a great place if beautiful ladies like you are born out it.'

'Aww, thank you.' she took another sip of the Rum. 'This stuff's strong, but so damn good. You should try it.'

'I don't know if I'm allowed to take drinks from the bar without permission.' Neptune chuckled.

'How about taking a bit from this one then?' she suggested, pointing at the second glass that Neptune had brought to the table.

'But, isn't that for the dude that bought them?'

'Ah, he don't need to know. Just a tiny bit on your lips will be enough.'

'Uh, okay then, if you say so.' Neptune gingerly picked up the glass and had a small taste.  
She was right, it was potent but flavoursome: a great mixture of sweetness and spices.  
' _Mmm,_ yeah that is good.' he said, putting the glass back down on the table.

'Told ya so. It's why so many people get wasted on this stuff. It's so good that they all forget it's alcohol. Can't imagine my life without it at least once a week though.'

Neptune nodded. He meant to say something but was too transfixed.

'Alrighty, I should probably stop pestering you now.' she said. 'Ya look like a busy boat, after all.'

'W-wait. Would you like to… maybe, hang out one day?' Neptune asked timorously.

The lady faltered. 'Umm, I'm usually never free during the day.'

'How about an evening like this then?'

'Don't ya work here at those hours though?'

'Oh, yeah, that's true…' Neptune stood up. An impulse was swelling up inside him.

'You're a lovely boy, don't get me wrong. I just-'

He reached out stroked her hair.

She gasped and swatted his hand away.

'I-I'm sorry. It just sorta c-'

'OI! Get away from her!' an angry voice roared from the entrance. The man who had ordered the drinks stomped towards them, followed by five other burly men. 'What do ya think you're doing, touching my wife?!'

Neptune eased backwards. 'Sorry dude. I was just… complimenting her.'

'Ya little wharf rat! Ya think you can just go up to my wife and do what ya please to her?!' He took the cigar from his mouth and threw it at Neptune.

Neptune ducked, and it flew past the ears of the customers sitting at the table behind them, and hit the wall. 'Whoa, chill dude. Like, I shouldn't've done it. I get it.'

'Gerald, please calm down.' said the man's wife nervously. 'Don't make a scene.'

The angry Gerald shoved Neptune hard on his chest.

In retaliation, with no consideration, Neptune grabbed the Gerald's glass from the table with his right hand… and smashed it into his face. The rum splashed onto Neptune's front, down Gerald's clothes, and onto the floor. The glass shattered into pieces and scattered across the ground.

Gerald staggered backwards, holding his hands over his face. When he finally removed them, Neptune saw multiple cuts, blood trickling out of them, and a look of unrelenting wrath.

'You've done it now.' said the second man, closest to Gerald. He cracked his knuckles, and so did the rest of them.

Every conversation in the bar had been put on hold, as all attention was now on the antagonism between Neptune and the man he had provoked.

Neptune braced himself for the ensuing brawl.

Gerald threw a punch directly at Neptune's face. Neptune moved his head to the right, just in time to evade the blow. He took the brief moment of Gerald's exposure to his advantage. He kneed Gerald in the groin. Gerald winced and bent over, clutching his testicles in agony. Arguably, Neptune had not started the fight himself by making the first move, but he was locked in now.

'You're gonna pay for this, ya little runt!' said the second man. He charged at Neptune at full speed.  
Neptune landed a successful backflip onto the table behind him (the two people who were sitting at it quickly stood up and ran to the counter) and the second man ran uncontrollably into the table, unable stop himself in time. The wind was knocked out of him as his stomach made impact with the side of the table. As he gasped for breath, Neptune kicked him in the face, and he fell backwards into Gerald – they both toppled to the floor.

The next two friends of Gerald stepped forward. Both of them pulled knives out of their pockets. 'Gonna gut ya, you rotten kid!' said the fourth man. They approached, slower this time than the second man had done, with their muscles tenses and eyes homing in on their target. The third man threw his knife at Neptune's heart.  
Neptune swerved his body to the right, allowing the knife to barely miss him and stick itself in the wall behind him. He recovered just in time to jump out of the way of the fourth man's attempt at an attack, who had opted to stab him up close.  
The man quickly climbed up onto the table, but Neptune immediately kicked him in the stomach, and he flew back, landing on top of both Gerald and the second man as they were making an effort to get up.  
Neptune looked for the knife behind him and pulled it out of the wall. He had looked away for just a second too long though, for he did not react to the fifth man, who had taken a barrel from the nearest table and threw it with as much strength as he could muster at Neptune. He could not evade or guard himself with his arms in time, and it knocked him off the table, to the left.

'Rush him! Now!' someone bellowed.

Neptune looked up and saw a man running towards him.

 _Bang_  
Something hit the running man in the shoulder. He clenched the spot he had been hit and fell over.

Neptune looked to the side to see Scarlet still behind the bar but holding his pistol in his left hand. 'You could've done that sooner!' said Neptune.

'You looked like you had it under control until just now!' Scarlet replied. He hurdled over the counter and rushed to Neptune's side. The majority of the customers had evacuated the bar, with only a few hugging the walls against the other side of the room.

Gerald and the second man were back on their feet. In addition to Gerald and his five friends, eight more men had stayed, and were also holding up their fists, eager for their slice of the action.

Neptune stood up, remembering that he still had his weapon with him. He kept the knife he had taken in his coat pocket. Scarlet held his pistol in his left hand and brandished his cutlass in his right hand.

The man that Scarlet had shot was on the floor, but there were still thirteen men glaring at them belligerently.  
'Ya got the jump on these guys before, ya brats, but you're outnumbered this time! Ain't no way you're walking out of here now!' said a man standing to the side of Gerald's group.

'What do we do?' Scarlet asked through gritted teeth?

'We're Huntsmen. What do you think?' said Neptune half-seriously, half-jokingly. 'You go over there, and I'll take the other corner.'

Scarlet ran to the counter, to where everyone had been queuing. Seven men followed him. Neptune jumped over two abandoned tables and took the opposite end of the bar. Gerald's gang and another man surrounded him.  
They both had seven men occupied each. It was up to them to come out on top.

Neptune was cornered. They were all standing close together to form a wall. The only thing that separated them was a round table between them.

'Ya done for, this time!' Gerald shouted. 'Ya got nowhere to run!'

'Pff, who said anything about running?' said Neptune cockily. He wasn't sure if provoking them any further was a good idea, but they were already mad enough, so what was the harm?

'Not one at a time: together!' They hurtled at him.

Neptune waited until they were close enough before reaching behind him and deploying his weapon into its guandao form. He swung it in a crescent, bashing each of their heads and they fell on top of each other like they were dominoes. Neptune activated the electrical charge and thrust it down onto the nearest man's abdomen. He shrieked and convulsed violently for five seconds before going still. Neptune lifted his weapon back up. ' _Six to go._ '

The six men men rubbed their heads as they regained footing. Gerald looked down at man that Neptune had taken down. He growled. 'Not impressed!'

'You still haven't seen anything yet.' Neptune chaffed.

'Watch out for that weapon of his! Work around it!'

The man who had thrown a barrel at Neptune earlier picked up another one from a table behind them and held it above his head. 'Alright tough guy! Swallow this!' He tossed the barrel with all his might.  
Neptune ducked behind the table and converted his weapon into its projectile mode. The barrel broke into pieces as it collided with the wall. He stood straight and rapidly fired, electrifying each of them. As they were stunned, Neptune slid across the table, with his weapon now as a trident and thrust it into the man who had tried to stab him earlier. Neptune's speed pushed him to the ground. He hit his head hard and his vision became a blur of humiliation.

' _Down to five. I got this._ ' Neptune held his trident at the ready with a mocking smile. The five men reobtained their focus.

'Is that all you got?! You'd better hit harder then that if you want to stand a chance!' the second of Gerald's men taunted.

Neptune quickly took the knife he had taken earlier out of his pocket and threw it with pinpoint accuracy straight at the second man. It lodged into his guts, causing him to fall to his knees.

Gerald snarled. 'I'm gonna make ya eat the dirt off my shoes! Ya hear me?!'

'Loud and clear.' Neptune said condescendingly.

Gerald picked up a glass from a behind him. The man who had thrown his knife and the last of Gerald's men, found a glass each too. 'See how ya like a glass tearing _your_ face apart!' They threw in unison.  
Neptune ducked and ran all the way round behind them.

The barrel throwing man was stepping up his game. Even Neptune was shocked when he lifted the entire table, which was next to him, over his head. 'Let's see ya dodge _this_ one, ya bloody rodent!'  
It was an intimidating attack, but predictable. Neptune saw it coming and dived out of the way to his left. He readied his weapon into its gun form as he stood up again. The table broke apart in splinters  
Another table was already above his head! But instead of letting him throw it again, Neptune, with catlike reflexes, fired a bolt of electricity from his weapon. It hit the barrel throwing man squarely in the face. 'Arggh!' he dropped the table on his head; the impact from both the weight of the table and the floor knocked him out cold.  
The two of Gerald's remaining men rushed mindlessly at him. They ducked, thinking they could avoid an electrical blast, but only to find that as they raised their heads, they were bludgeoned by guandao form of Neptune's weapon and were knocked unconscious faster than they could cry out in pain.

Neptune looked over his left shoulder at Scarlet. He had made an absolute bloodbath of his contenders. Only one still remained. ' _What a man._ '  
He resumed his focus on Gerald: the last man from his side standing. He was still livid, but a look of shock had been etched onto his cut and bruised face.

'What… the hell are you?! How did you do that?!'

'Look, dude; I didn't realise that she was your wife, and I'm sorry that I touched her. Why don't we just stop this fight now? I mean, come on, you clearly aren't going to win this.'

'Y-ya think I'm ever gonna listen to a punk like yourself?! Never, not after what you've just done!'

Neptune shrugged his shoulders. 'Have it your way then.' He fired a bolt of electricity at Gerald's chest. He was thrown off his feet, landed on his back and jerked violently only momentarily before finally joining his friends in defeat.

Scarlet walked over to join him. 'Nicely done.' he said.

'Bro, you really made a mess over there.' Neptune remarked.

'Swords and skin don't go well together. These humans don't seem to have an aura like we do as well.'

'At least we showed them who's boss.'  
The gave each other a high-five.

'What?! What on earth happened here?!'  
Mast had returned through the back door. He stared in shock at the horror show that had unfolded during his absence.

'Oh, uh, hi, Mast.' said Neptune awkwardly. 'Just to let you know, we've quit. This job's not for us.'

Scarlet nodded in agreement.

'Goodbye then.'  
Neptune waved and sprinted out of the bar and turned right.

'Neptune, wait for me!' Scarlet called after him.

* * *

Neptune finally slowed down, allowing for Scarlet to catch up.

'That was a big oopsie. Sorry about that, mate.' said Neptune contritely.

'Ehh, it's alright. We might be able to find work somewhere else.'

'Yeah.'

'How'd you get into a fight anyway?'

Neptune sighed. 'So I went to the table that the dude asked us to put his drinks at, and then suddenly there's this _really_ hot lady sitting there.'

'Seriously?'

'I know, I know: I'm an idiot. You don't have to tell me that. But she started talking to me and offered me to sit down at the table. She commented on my clothes and that she's never seen anyone wear anything like it. She asked me where I was from, and even suggested that I try a bit of her husband's drink. I just thought it was going somewhere, you know?'

'Man, you really need to stop hitting on every attractive person you come across.

'C'mon dude: she was the one who started talking to me.'

'Hmm, fair point.'

'Anyway, I then asked her if she wanted to hang out some time, but she didn't seem comfortable with that. Now I know why… And then, I dunno what came over me, but I reached out and stroked her hair.'

'And her husband caught you in the act?'

'Yeah, exactly. I tried to get him to calm down, but he shoved me hard, so I kinda hit him, by smashing his glass in his face. To me, it felt like self-defence, but that really pissed him off, as you can imagine, and at that point I was in a fight with him and his friends.'

'At least you handled yourself well.'

'You too, dude. I just hope we don't get into a situation like that again. You heard those guys talking in the queue in front of us, right? About some infamous captain?'

'They weren't exactly whispering.'

'Well, the thing is, we don't know this world at all and what people are capable of. We don't want to go messing with the wrong people.'

'Yeah, obviously. Hold on, is this Myron's Murderhole?'

'The sign says so, so it must be.'

They approached the bar. Like to The Glowing Lady, it had a similar structure, with an open entrance. The layout inside was almost identical, but with even more people and actual chairs instead of barrels as tables.

'You wanna try this place?' Neptune asked.

'It's a lot busier, and honestly I think I've had enough for one night.' Scarlet responded lethargically.

'What are we gonna do about food, water and shelter then? We need money. Look, I promise I won't screw us over again. I'll be self-controlled.'

'Alright, I guess we can give it another shot.'

'Great. Let's just make sure we aren't being followed.'

They turned and checked behind them.

'It doesn't seem like it. Let's just hope that they don't suddenly come to this bar.' said Neptune.

'You wanna take that chance?'

'Yeah, why not?' We already know that they're no match for us. Wait, what the...?'

A distinctly dressed man was strolling towards them. He wore an ostentatious white coat, a small grey scarf, and a bowler hat with a red band on top of his bright orange hair. He also carried a cane in his right hand. He made brief eye contact with Scarlet and Neptune before he walked into the bar.

They also noticed that his clothes were wet.  
'That's not…' Neptune hesitated.

'I think I've seen him before.'

'It's got to be: Roman Torchwick. Who else would dress up like that?'

'Isn't that the guy you and Sun fought earlier this semester when you hung out with Team RWBY?'

'Yeah. You also remember when Sun went off with Blake to the Vale docks last semester? He was there too.'

'Oh yeah, he told us about that.'

'What's he doing here then? How'd he get to the new world?'

'No clue.'

'Well, we were gonna go inside anyway.'

'Do you think he recognised you?'

'Honestly, I didn't do much that evening. He was piloting one of those Atlesian mechs and I did a bit of damage to it with my weapon, but I don't think he ever saw me. So we should be safe.'

They entered the bar.

* * *

Torchwick had made his way to the counter and was talking to the bartender.

'We should get closer to him and see what he's doing.' Scarlet proposed.

'If that's your idea, we might as well go right up to him, tap him on the shoulder and ask him what's he up to.' Neptune responded facetiously.

'Let's see if he sits down anywhere first. If he leaves, we can just follow him at a distance.'

Torchwick moved away from the counter, without a drink in hand. He looked around before stopping. He then stepped forward, and then backwards: he looked indecisive. But his mind seemed to have been made up quickly, for he began to walk slowly towards the top right corner of the bar, where two men were sitting at a table. The first had long hair, a kempt beard, and wore a large hat with a card tucked inside a band that ran around the base of the head. The second man, by contrast, had scruffy head hair and facial hair, and had a large cigar in his mouth. They looked particularly pleased as Torchwick approached them.  
He began to speak, but there was too much noise in the bar for Scarlet and Neptune to hear what he was saying. A few exchanges between them passed before he sat himself down in front of them.

'There's a table near him, just there.' Neptune pointed at a circular table that was behind him, diagonally to the right.

'But there's already people sitting there.' Scarlet objected.

'Hey, be cool man. It's only two people.'

They neared the table, and the two middle aged men, with lightly scared faces, looked up at them.

'Hi guys. Do you mind if we sit here? We won't bother you; we just want a place to sit. That's all.'

'Seats ain't reserved, so why d'ya even need to ask?' the taller of the two men asked jokingly, slurring his words.

'I just thought I'd ask, in case you weren't comfortable with two random people sharing a table with you.' said Neptune with sincerity.

'Good to see a young lad with manners.' the second man laughed boisterously. 'Sure though, park your rears down. Ain't no bother to us. We'll be off soon as it is.'

'Cheers.' Neptune smiled.

'Thank you.' said Scarlet.

They moved their chairs around to the sides of the table, so it looked like they were having a conversation together whilst simultaneously eavesdropping, and without making it obvious that they were watching that particular table. Even though he was not facing them, the two men that he was talking with would have see them, and if Torchwick turned around, he would have seen them too. Even though the bar was still a bit too loud, they were in the best position they could hope for. Torchwick was less than a tables' length away from them after all. They saw out of the corner of their eyes that the man with the cigar offered one to Torchwick too. He appeared to not react well to it though.

'You think he knows these guys?' Scarlet whispered.

'No idea. If we could hear their conversation clearly, that would help.'

'Alright boys, we're leaving now Enjoy your space as much as ya please.' said the first of the two men who had allowed them to sit at the table.

'Oh, okay. Thanks again.' Neptune returned.

'No problem at *burp* all.' said the first man, and they ungracefully staggered out of the bar, leaving their bottles behind.

'Great, now that they're gone, we can hear him better.' said Neptune with a grin.

'Oh yeah. That's handy.'

' _Let's start with the name then. You can call me Torchwick. Roman Torchwick.'_

' _Roman Torchwick, hey? Cool name, that's for sure.'_ said the man with the cigar.

' _And how about you two fine men. What names do you go by?'_

' _The name's Graves. Malcolm Graves.'_

' _And they call me Tobias.'_ said the man with the card in his hat.

'Okay, they've only just met. That's something to note.' Neptune commented.

' _Do you know of a place called "Vale"?'_ Torchwick asked.

' _Don't ring a bell from the top of my head. You know it, Tobias?'_

' _Nope.'_

' _It's very, far away.'_ said Torchwick.

' _What brings you to Bilgewater then, Roman? Why travel so far to here in particular?'_ Tobias asked.

' _Job opportunities. Employment in Vale is a bit haywire at the moment. If I am not being deceived, Bilgewater houses a whole load of ways to make a living.'_

'Okay, he's definitely the same Torchwick that we know and hate.' said Neptune.

'Do you think he's telling the truth though? Why would he go all the way to Runeterra just to find work? He's a crime lord, he doesn't need to get money through work.' Scarlet brought up.

'Hmm, good point. There's something very fishy about this.'

Tobias brought out a deck of playing cards from his jacket. He gave some suggestions on what he, Torchwick and Graves would play.

'Gambling?' Scarlet whispered.

'I don't know him well, but he does have that look of a person who takes risks to get big gain, so I'm not surprised.' Neptune commented

'But surely this can't be the only reason he's here. Either he got here by accident, or he's here for a much bigger purpose.' Scarlet conjectured.

'No one accidently stumbles across one ocean to another, so he's gotta be here for a reason.'

'But what _is_ that reason? It has to be worthwhile.'

'Mate, keep your voice down. He'll hear you.' Neptune hissed. 'Let's stop talking and listen again.'

' _Okay then, let's start with something simple. Have you ever played Go Fish?'_ Tobias suggested.

' _The one where you have to create as many Four-of-a-Kinds as possible?'_ said Torchwick.

' _Exactly.'_

' _Then yes, I have.'_

Tobias shuffled the deck and dealt out cards to Torchwick, Graves and himself.

'You think we should just wait this out?' Scarlet asked.

'I think so. There might not be anything particularly interesting about a card game, but listen out in case he says anything interesting.'

From the players' perspective, the game was exciting and seemed to go by rapidly. For an onlooker though, it seemed to take forever. Perhaps it was because Scarlet and Neptune had unrealistic expectations that something exciting would happen. From their position, they could not see the cards themselves, and thus had no indicator of who was winning and far they were through the game.

'This'd better be worth it.' said Scarlet wearisomely.

'I don't think he even bet any money this round. Ugh, oh well.'

' _Yes!'_ Torchwick slammed his cards down onto the table after what felt like twenty minutes.

' _Nicely done, Roman.'_ said Tobias, somewhat disingenuously. He and Graves finished off the round, with Torchwick coming out on top.

The next game was about to begin, but this time money was at stake, and the pressure was on.

'It's interesting that the dude with the cigar gave some of his money to Torchwick.' Neptune observed.

'He can't have been here long then, if he's got like no money with him.'

'Yeah. And if he loses, he's probably gonna be broke, and I get the feeling that the guy with the card in his hat isn't a fair player.'

'Why do you say that?'

'He just looks like a rotten cheater. If was in Torchwick's shoes right now, I would not trust him one bit.'

'Being a bit judgemental, aren't you?' Scarlet sniggered.

'A bit, but I can tell that this game is gonna be stained with some dishonestly.' Neptune reckoned.

'I guess we'll wait and see then.'

Graves was not taking part for this turn, and they were playing Rummy instead. Tobias also insisted on making the first move.

It was to no one's surprise except Torchwick himself that the game ended so soon. Tobias got rid of six entire cards at once, and Torchwick promptly dropped the ones he still held out of disbelief.  
 _'W-what? H-how...?'_

' _It's just all in the cards, Roman. Sorry to say that they just weren't on your side this game.'_ said Tobias patronisingly.

Torchwick grunted as all of his coins were swept away from him.

' _Good game though.'_ said Tobias.

' _Yeah. A bet's a bet after all.'_ Torchwick replied, and they shook hands.

'Torchwick's looking thoroughly at his cards. I think he's spotted something wrong.' Neptune murmured.

' _You cheated…'_ Torchwick muttered suddenly

' _Excuse me?'_ said Tobias.

' _You cheated.'_ he repeated a bit louder.

' _What do you mean?'_

' _You cheated! Look!'_ Torchwick sprung up. _'See this?! An Ace of Spades was in my hand! There's also an Ace of Spades in this meld right here! Explain to me why there are two of the same card!'_

' _Roman, my friend, please calm down. I won this game fair and square. We're grownups here. You should know better than to throw a tantrum at a loss.'_ said Tobias with implicit scorn in his words.

' _Don't play innocent with me!'_ _You cheated! Give me my money back! Or I swear I'll r-'_

Torchwick raised his hands, edged backwards and laughed nervously. Graves had drawn a shotgun and was pointing it straight at Torchwick's head. The whole of the bar's attention was now on the men's quarrel.

' _I'd watch your tongue if I were you… We gave you our time for some nice card games, and I even gave you money freely. You have some nerve to shout at my good friend here and falsely accuse him of playing dirty.'_ said Graves bellicosely.

' _Hehe, you're right, you're right.'_ Torchwick stammered. _'I was just… overreacting. Please beg my pardon. I often lose my temper when things don't quite go my way.'_

Graves got to his feet and pushed Torchwick back even further with his shotgun. _'Seems like you need to learn how to look at defeat in the face_. _Now, you're gonna leave this here bar, and you're not gonna show your face around here again for the rest of the night. You come back here tomorrow at this time, with at least thirty Silver Serpents, and you're gonna apologise for your bad manners... Have I made myself clear, Roman?'_

' _Yes, Malcolm. You could not be clearer if you tried. Hehe…'_

' _I'm glad to hear it. Now get out of our sight.'_

Torchwick grabbed his cane and made a clumsy exit to the bar, bumping into his spies' table as he did.

Without even consulting each other, Scarlet and Neptune got up and followed him out the bar, heading right.

* * *

Torchwick ran surprisingly fast, but it was nothing that the two Huntsmen couldn't handle. He kept running until he found himself by a more rural area in Bilgewater, and the opening of a river, which was lit up by dim blue lanterns. Long grass ran across the paths next to both banks, and an archway of tall trees created a dark canopy above the river.

His pursuers crept low and kept themselves far away from Torchwick's line of sight. Neptune was especially keen to stay away from the river's edge.

*Squelch*  
Scarlet stepped into a thick puddle of mud. He and Neptune quickly crouched down into the grass. Torchwick looked over his shoulder in suspicion. It was dark though, so they were safe.

'Ugh. That's disgusting.' Scarlet complained.

'Shh, it's alright. It's just mud.' Neptune whispered. 'Nothing to worry about.'

'Wait until you step in a puddle…'

As they continued to persue Torchwick, they heard a pleasant-sounding tune in the far distance. It was like a mixture of a guitar being strung with some humming and singing.  
Torchwick continued to walk along the river, leaving Scarlet and Neptune no choice but to follow him even deeper into mysterious darkness.

*Squelch*  
Another puddle! Scarlet winced before Neptune forced him down into the grass once again.

Torchwick turned his attention to the direction that the squelching was coming from once again. He frowned. He obviously thought that someone or some _thing_ was on his trail. Surprisingly though, it didn't deter him from continuing to look for the source of the song, which was getting even louder now.

And then they saw it: sitting on the opposite side of the river. A peculiarly odd creature. It had skin that looked like it was both a fish and an amphibian. Its eyes were sharply yellow, and its mouth was comically big, with horrific rows of teeth lining it. Even more ridiculous though was the dark trench coat and tight, burgundy shirt that it wore around its fat body, and a small top hat with a red ribbon on its head. The creature was playing the tune that they had heard by stretching its tongue out of its mouth with its left hand and stringing it with the fingers on its right hand.

Torchwick exclaimed the words that Scarlet and Neptune were thinking to themselves. 'What the?!'

The creature let go of its tongue, and it plopped back into its mouth. It stared at Torchwick with a look that belied its true nature. 'Please, excuse my song.' it suddenly said with a very deep voice. 'The tune's purpose was your attention, for I saw you on the run with troubles, and I can offer absolutions.'

'What… are you talking about?' Torchwick asked apprehensively as he tiptoed closer to the river.

'Hehe, boy, you are as open as a door without a lock. You look dishevelled and disconcerted, like you're carrying a burden on your back that's bigger than a full moon. Do you wish to be emancipated from your tribulations?'

' _What the heck does that even mean?_ ' Scarlet and Neptune both pondered at the same time.

'Well, I gotta say that I don't exactly know who or _what_ you are. What services can you provide to me?'

'Anything you crave, boy. Anything that your heart desires.'

'Anything at all, you say. Hmm. Can you get me money then?'

'Money is an indispensable component of a happy life, yet so many people owe it due and only the finest of folk have enough to spare.'

The creature eased its corpulent physique into the river and waddled over towards Torchwick. 'Woah, not so close!' said Torchwick with discomfort.

'Stay unperturbed, my child.' said the beast. It reached into its trench coat and cast a small bag towards Torchwick.

Torchwick stepped aside and picked up the bag warily with only his thumb and forefinger. 'Ugh…'

'No reason to be so nervous around an innocuous bag of coins.' the beast laughed. 'The very contents of that bag right there are thirty Silver Serpents.'

'Great. Thanks.' said Torchwick, unsure of what to say.

'However, the offer does not end there. I'm sure you can tell. You could walk away with just a measly bag of coins, but why not stay and be rewarded with a whole sack of money instead?'

'Where are you going with this?' Torchwick asked; his interest piqued.

'Allow me to elaborate. You see, I've got voracity, that ain't easily sated, but those proud men of the city never have a table reserved for yours truly. So, I need good natured, altruistic men like yourself to let me in.'

' _Not surprised, looking at how big that thing is. It could probably eat Torchwick alive if it wanted to._ ' Neptune thought, humoured by the idea.

'And what would that involve exactly?' Torchwick inquired.

'The price? It's a minuscule thing. Bring me a fish – any kinda fish – and give it to me. Do that, and I'll give you a bag of forty Silver Serpents, the next time you come and see me. All bargains I offer are as easy to fulfil as finding and catching a snail on a rainy day.'

Torchwick gave no response for fifteen seconds, presumably considering the creatures offer. 'Alright, you've got yourself a deal.' he eventually said.

The beast chuckled. 'Now _those_ are words I like to hear. Farewell, young man, and remember, if you're ever in any trouble, you're safe in my abode.'

'Err, sure. I got it.'

'Hehe, the world's one big river, and I'm its king. Ain't no place I ain't been. Ain't no place I can't go again. If troubles encroach, call upon the epithet of Tahm Kench, the River King.' It finally had nothing left to add. He dove into the river and disappeared from sight.

Torchwick turned around and went back the way he had come.

Rain suddenly sprinkled from the sky. Neptune let off a girly shriek (They were even safe under the canopy of trees and only a few droplets were breaching it…)

Torchwick growled. 'I know you're there! Stop following me like a stray animal!'

Neptune was fighting the urge to run and find solid shelter. Somehow though, he and Scarlet were both motionless.

Despite not actually seeing them, Torchwick stared straight in their direction for ten whole seconds. He shook his head and entered a jog.

There was no way for Scarlet and Neptune to keep up with him without exposing themselves. They kept low until he was gone and then they stood up and walked to the beginning of the river. The trail was dead and Torchwick was gone.

The rain was heavy. Neptune cowered at the mere idea of stepping out into the shower.

'Neptune, stop being a cat. It's just rain.'

'B-but I don't want to get wet.'

Scarlet sighed. 'How on earth do you manage to wash yourself?'

'With difficulty.'

'C'mon. You've already been soaked this evening from almost drowning in the sea. What's a bit of rain gonna do to you?'

'Fine… but we'd better go somewhere dry.' Neptune groaned, submitting to reason.

'Man, we need to sleep somewhere. It's getting late, and I'm tired.

'Let's go up to the top again.'

'There's nowhere to stay up there.' Scarlet pointed out. 'No one's gonna let us crash in a shop or something.

'Didn't we pass an inn on our way to the bar? We could just get room there.'

'We don't have any money, genius…'

'Oh yeah… Forgot about that…'

'We gotta find a place where no one will bother us. Let's stay at sea level and see if we can find an obscure spot.'

Neptune looked horrified. 'You really expect to me to go down to the sea again?'

'Not necessarily by the sea, but somewhere where no one's gonna happen to stumble across us in the night.'

Neptune took a deep breath. 'Yeah, I get what you mean. Let's move then.'

Scarlet patted Neptune on the back and smiled.

It was difficult, but Neptune was also determined to not let the rain take away his composure. They walked past the steps that led up to the cliffs and the nightlife, and carried on along the path next to the coastline.

'You're doing really well. Keep it up.' Scarlet said encouragingly.

Neptune smiled and nodded. 'Cheers, bro. By the way, what do you think was up with that toad-catfish-like thing that we saw Torchwick talking to?'

'All I know is that I understood only about half of the words it used. It's like it swallowed a dictionary or something.'

'Same here. I couldn't take it seriously either. An ugly hybrid of a fish and a frog, wearing a man's clothes and speaking with a fancy vocabulary. What are you supposed to make of it?'

'Dunno, but I wouldn't trust that thing with my life. I guess Torchwick is really desperate for money if he made a deal with it.'

'Well we certainly aren't resorting to that ourselves.'

'Agreed.'

* * *

Their roam was not entirely aimless, but it did seem fruitless for a while. What were they expecting to find? Bilgewater's entire layout was an improvisation of what could be made out of limited resources. The cliffside held no cave or even an alcove so far, and to the right there were only a few piers and boats tied to bollards.  
'This is hopeless. We're ain't gonna find anything.' Neptune sighed.

'Let's not give up yet. We probably haven't explored even a quarter of this place. There's bound to be somewhere we can sleep.' Scarlet said with a note of confidence. In truth, it felt futile to him as well, but saying it out loud might help.

The path ascended moderately, and now the sea was a few metres below them. They plodded on and constantly looked left, right, up, down and all around.

At last, they spotted something with potential suitability.  
'Down there.' Scarlet said, pointing towards a wide harbour. The stone stairs led to a wide, open space with crates that had been dumped and scattered across the area. Wooden houses were lined up against the small cliff that divided the harbour from the path above them. If you turned left at the base of the stairs, you would enter a small settlement of structures and homes of varying sizes. Two ships were docked against the edge of the harbour by roped tied around bollards. Three wide, naturally occurring stone walkways stretched out over the water at the centre, and each one had six little wooden shacks set up across them on both sides.  
A sign stood right next to the stairs:

"Bloodharbor" Neptune read aloud. 'That does not sound like a very friendly place...'

'You wanna keep looking for another place in the rain? This has to be better than nothing.'

The rain had admittedly calmed down slightly, but not enough for it to justify them to continue searching for something when this could suffice.

'Shall we go into that little town over there?' Scarlet suggested, pointing left at the cluster of buildings.

'I don't think we can count on anyone giving us a place to stay, but there might be some secluded area we can hide in. So yeah, let's have a look.'

It seemed like everyone had gone to bed for the night. The inside of the town was poorly lit, with only a few street lamps faintly illuminating the streets. A few hooks hung from the ropes that were tied to the roofs and gutters of the buildings, and their shadows were cast on the walls of the buildings.  
Scarlet and Neptune weaved through the streets, keeping their eyes peeled for anything that would be even remotely sufficient for their needs.  
They crept down a path that led to the water's edge, hoping to find one that would lead either left or right. It was a dead end that led to a pier for small boats.

'No good. Let's try a different direction.' said Neptune, feeling queasy at the sight of the waves lapping over the edge.  
They spun around and headed back down the way they had come.

Halfway through, they stopped dead in their tracks. Two blue, glowing lights emerged from the dark. They were dim, but very unsettling. They flickered and squinted, as though they were a pair of eyes. They could not see what they belonged to though…

'What is that?' said Neptune through gritted teeth.

'I dunno.' Scarlet hissed.

They took slow steps backwards, without taking their eyes off the ones glaring at their own. Neptune's heels hit a small crate behind him. He flinched but recovered his balance and held a hand over his heart.

'What do you think we should do?' Scarlet said frightenedly.

'I'm thinking.' said Neptune back, equally as afraid.

The eyes gently rocked up and down, and moved closer to them.

A harpoon on a rope flew out of the darkness, straight towards them. They noticed it just in time and threw themselves out of the way, against the wall of the houses on either side of them – Neptune to the left, and Scarlet to the right.

The harpoon returned to the shadows.  
Scarlet pulled out his pistol and pointed it in the direction of the eyes. Neptune did the same with the gun form of his weapon.  
'W-what do you want?!' Neptune yelled, trying not to sound scared. However, his throat was dry, and his voice was quaking.

' _You. You look familiar..._ ' a growling voice murmured.

'What?' Scarlet and Neptune said at the same time.

' _You were there… You watched me drown. You cut my line…'_

'Dude, what are you talking about?' said Neptune. 'We don't know who you are, so l-leave us alone!'

The glowing eyes vanished, and an eerie noise of what sounded like something swimming through water took its place. Whatever it was, they couldn't see it, but it encroached on the two Huntsmen.  
The two of them took wider steps back, unsure of what to expect.

' _Rise!_ ' It emerged from thin air, creating a splash of water that soaked them. It dashed straight through Neptune as he was caught off guard by the water. Neptune spun on his feet to counterattack, but felt a searing pain encase his body. A watery phantom of the assailant followed his move and also went straight through Neptune. The force of it stunned him whole. He fell over and dropped his weapon. He could not guard himself or dodge as the attacker turned around and thrust his harpoon straight at Neptune's abdomen. Fortunately, his aura protected him from the stab, however the watery phantom and that single stab was almost enough to break his aura entirely. He was dizzy and incapable of even standing properly.

Scarlet took his cutlass and swung it at their assaulter. Their blades clashed. As they pressed against each other, Scarlet was able to momentarily see who they were up against:  
The man was bald, with water-damaged skin. A red bandana with mangled teeth covered his mouth. He wore a green cloak with a small net of hooks on his back. The ghastliest thing of all though, aside from his glowing eyes, was the pair of shark's jaws that he wore on his shoulders as pauldrons.

The harpoon was carved with curved spikes. It caught Scarlet's cutlass, and he was unable to pull it back. They struggled, pushing as hard as they could.  
An opening presented itself. Neptune, though debilitated, reached for his weapon and fired it at the attacker. It electrified him momentarily, giving Scarlet enough time to kick him in the stomach and knock him over.  
He grunted, but laughed sinisterly. In a flash, he went invisible and swam through the air.

'Let's get out of here!' Neptune shouted. The initial shock had ended, and he was able to stand up.

'Yeah!' Scarlet agreed.

Before they could take even two steps though, Neptune felt something dig into his back and it pulled him with great force towards the water. He yelled in fear and dropped his weapon again.

The assaulter put his left arm tightly around Neptune's neck, and stabbed his harpoon into the back of Neptune's guts. The tip of the blade shot straight through the intestines and pierced his belly and clothes on the other side. His blood wetted the harpoon and trickled down his legs.  
' _Another name off the list.'_

'Neptune!' Scarlet screamed and sprinted as fast as he could towards him.

The assailant dove into the water, bringing the helpless Neptune with him and dragged him down.

The hole in his guts stung as the salt flooded his insides. Neptune reflexively screamed and swallowed the seawater that was already consuming him in terror.  
Scarlet threw himself into the sea and swam after them. He couldn't see at all or feel anything; they had already gone too deep. There were no bubbles left to follow. He ran out of breath and kicked back to the surface.

Neptune no longer had any air. His lungs were filled with nothing but water. With no more oxygen, he lost all consciousness. There was nothing he could do. His attacker mercilessly sunk him to the bottom of the sea, beyond the reach of help, in the worst possible fate Neptune could ever have...

"Support" by the way.


	30. Search and Destroy

**Chapter 30** – Search and Destroy.

'I've swear that I've never seen you fly an aircraft before, Professor Ozpin.' Goodwitch remarked. She stood with her right arm resting on the pilot's seat, behind Ozpin's head.

'I've had some practice, Glynda. But flying one of these things honestly isn't too difficult.' said Ozpin, untroubled.

'Really? Since when have _you_ had any experience with Atlesian military equipment?'

'Over time. When Mantle still existed, I had a go at a few preliminary Bullheads. These airships have a few more knobs and buttons than I'm used to, but like any good Huntsman, I can usually adapt to change with enough concentration and alteration of my muscle memory.'

'Back when Mantle was still a thing. But I swear you weren't even bo… oh. Of course.'

Ozpin looked over his shoulder and smiled. 'Exactly.'

The interior of the airship was very lively. Team CFVY, Team ABRN and Pantheon were all sat and in a rich conversation.

'It's such a shame about Roy.' said Velvet.

'Roy Stallion of Team BRNZ?' said Arslan.

'Yeah.'

'We all fought valiantly.' said Yatsuhashi. He put his right arm over Velvet's shoulders. 'His sacrifice will not be forgotten.'

'Please tell me about this young Roy Stallion.' Pantheon asked, cradling his helmet in his lap.

'We didn't know much about him, but he was a participant in the Vytal Festival Tournament.' Coco replied.

'Please forgive my ignorance, but I am still not entirely familiar with your world. What is this tournament that you speak of?

'Oh, right. Us Hunstmen and Huntresses usually gather every two years at one of the combat schools in Remnant to compete in a tournament.'

'I see. You have blew away the clouds in my head. Thank you, Coco.'

'No worries. Anyway, word has it that Roy was killed by a Nevermore. It picked him up and carried him away. No one knows any more than that though.'

'And is a Nevermore one of those dark creatures that overwhelmed the school?' Pantheon asked again.

'It is. They're called "Creatures of Grimm".' Fox explained. 'They're soulless monsters that feed off of negative emotions and prey on the weak.'

'How horrible.' Pantheon commented. 'The soil of the earth should not be trod on by such repugnant parasites.'

'They're a pain in your ass, but if you train as a Hunstmen, you kinda get used to them after a while. They're honestly not too much to handle. It's only when they're in huge packs that they pose any real threat.' Fox continued.

'Interesting…' Pantheon murmured. 'In my world of Runeterra, we too have abominations that stain the beauty of nature, and they fight relentlessly. It spit at the venom of these creatures of the Void, but I _unleash_ my fury against the two greatest evils of all: the _Aspects_ and the _Darkin_.'

'Care to tell us more about what these Aspects and Darkin are?' said Bolin.

'Those who are naïve would see the Darkin as the worst, but I know better. Both Aspects and Darkin are equally destructive and deserving of damnation. The Aspects are so-called "Gods" that sing songs of selfishness and pride in their own power. I have already said this to your friends last night, but I'll say it to you as well. I am partially ashamed of my past, for the Aspect of War once used me as a vessel. When I saw it, face-to-face, it deemed me unworthy and took control of my flesh to carry out its "godly" tasks.'

'And when did it stop controlling you?' asked Yatsuhashi.

'When I was slain…' said Pantheon, unintentionally sounding overly dramatic.

'Come again?' Yatsuhashi returned, scratching his head.

'You all saw that _creature_ in the school grounds, didn't you?'

Everyone nodded.

'It killed me. The Darkin: _Aatrox_ killed me. When I was still in chains by the Aspect of War, I encountered Aatrox at the top of the mountain that is my home of birth. Aatrox's power is so great and he brings destruction in his wake, for the end of the world is what he seeks. We fought valiantly for many rounds, in a battle that raged across the skies, but the God could not best him. This scar across my chest is where his sword impaled me. I spat in his face before he sneered and left. The God died, but the man lives on in my mortal body. I regained my control, but the man known as Atreus was reformed.'

'Wait, wait, hold on.' Coco exclaimed. 'We didn't come close to taking down Aatrox even when there were more than twenty of us. Now we've just learned that even a God couldn't beat him, and there's even less of us returning to Beacon to face it. It is just me, or does that seem like a pretty stupid idea?'

'Aatrox has slaughtered many Gods in his time, but now he faces an enemy that he has never had any reason to fear before. He faces a _man_!'

'You sure are confident.' said Fox.

'There is reason to fear and be cautious, but Aatrox is blinded by his own unending despair. He looks at anyone that does not resemble a powerful entity and disregards it without any proper evaluation. Fate decided that I would encounter him again, and his own overconfidence got the better of him. Even as Atreus, just a man, I severed his arm with my spear.

'Yikes. That's some story.' Fox commented. 'I'll take a mental note to never mess with you.'

Pantheon gave a mild smile. 'Although no one has yet to find a way to put down the Darkin for good, they are not invincible. I am living proof of that.'

'How did Aatrox recover his arm?' Velvet asked curiously.

'He took off on his wings afterwards. Where he went, I am not sure. Never though did I imagine that I would have a reencounter with him when I flew to the world of Remnant.'

'Do you think he recognised you?' said Reese.

'Possibly, but he was most likely too distracted by his lust for bloodshed in that chaotic environment.'

'Still though, you say that no one has been able to kill outright. What are we expecting do once we get to Beacon?' Coco went on.

'Maybe he's still frozen?' Velvet suggested.

'Let's hope so, otherwise we're gonna have a hard time…' Coco sighed.

* * *

The afternoon was encroaching. The sun had just gone past its peak and shone brightly over Sanus.  
Professor Ozpin set his sights on the City of Vale below him. 'We're almost here.' he said. Both excitement and apprehension filled his mind. He wouldn't know until they had arrived, but what were they to expect from Aatrox. He had overheard his passengers' conversation as well as what Pantheon had told them the previous night, but Coco did have a point. At the Fall of Beacon, collectively they did nothing to him, even with Pantheon there, lending his assistance.  
The school was also in shambles, but had the vault been preserved? The Fall Maiden was gone, but the Relic of Choice had still been there. It was utmost that it survived.

The anticipation in his throat built up like a balloon being pumped with air. The ruins of Beacon Academy were almost upon them. ' _I hope that the situation will be under control…_ '

Goodwitch shielded her eyes from the sun with her right hand as she peered out of the cockpit window. 'He's gone.' she said, surprised.

'This is not good then.' Ozpin returned. He saw for himself that the Beacon courtyard was devoid of everything but rubble, so he eased the aircraft down. Although the ground beneath them was uneven from the aftermath of the battle, the landing process was smooth.  
Ozpin stretched his arms and his fingers. 'At least we got here unscathed.'

Goodwitch patted him on the back. 'Amongst this whole mess, this is one thing I can be wholly grateful for.'

'Be careful when stepping out of the machine!' Pantheon instructed. 'Aatrox is not known for being subtle, but even though we cannot see him, be on your guard.'

They all took out their weapons and hopped down to the ground, one at a time. The other obvious elephant in the courtyard was that the wreckage of the school was no longer frozen in gold either.

'Hey, over here!' called out a voice from their right. They all turned to see Dr. Oobleck dash to their side in a split second, with Professor Port wheezing in the far distance as he stumbled towards them.  
Even to this day, after being colleagues and friends with Oobleck for years, he was still astounded by how fast he could move.

'Barty, how have you been?' said Ozpin warmly.

'I have terrible, simply terrible news!' Oobleck replied uneasily. 'The beast, the goliath, Aatrox, he escaped that spell, which was keeping him frozen! Peter and I have been keeping a close eye on him from a distance ever since you left, and last night, the spell seemed to have lifted, and Aatrox flew off! I wanted to tell you immediately, but with that blasted CCTS down, I was hoping that you would get here sooner.'

'Definitely not good news…' Goodwitch muttered.

'Do you know which direction he went in?' Ozpin inquired.

'Yes, as a matter of fact. Although I feel out of a tree, I managed to see through the clearing and he was heading westwards.'

'In the direction of West Sanus, towards Vacuo?' said Ozpin.

'Well, one can hardly be sure if he's flying in a straight line or not, but he was definitely going west at least until he was out of sight.' Oobleck said rapidly.

Port finally caught up to them. He put his hands on his knees and panted heavily. 'Whoa, it's good to see you again.' he gasped. 'How was your brief excursion away from Beacon?'

'Rather well actually.' Goodwitch replied. 'We got to know more about the three individuals from the new world who came to our aid a few days ago. It turns out that this warrior here, Atreus saved Miss Belladonna.'

'It was nothing, really.' Pantheon said modestly to Port and Oobleck.

'Still, good on you though.' Port said supportively.

'Now then, I need to get you up to speed with our situation.' said Ozpin. 'We've been informed that the new world is called Runeterra. This is where Atreus is from, as well as the two other men you briefly saw: Shen and Ryze.'

'Hmm, good to know, good to know.' said Oobleck.

'We also decided to send Qrow, Ironwood, Team RWBY, Team JNPR and Team SSSN to Runeterra, with Shen and Ryze accompanying them. It was agreed that it would be good for us to get to know the planet better, and to have two natives acting as their tour guide.' Ozpin explained, purposefully omitting Ryze's mission to collect the World Runes.

'How are they getting there?' Port asked.

'Ironwood is piloting one of his larger carrier ships. They should be on their way there now.'

'It seems a bit risky, doesn't it though? It's an entirely different planet after all.' Port said concernedly.

'Glynda and I had a debate between us regarding the safety of our students. We are aware of the risks, but we concluded in the end that Ryze and Shen could be trusted to steer them away from any potential dangers, and that this would be an adventure, which would put the Team's skill to the test.'

'Let's hope that nothing happens to them, then.' said Oobleck. 'It's a shame that we can't establish any sort of long-range communication with the CCTS inoperable.'

'As a group, they are very strong in numbers. I have faith that they will stand firmly together.' said Pantheon fervently.'

'You're the one that knows Runeterra better than anyone else here, so I'll trust your judgement.' said Ozpin.

'Thank you, headmaster.' Pantheon replied.

'Alright, everyone, let's get down to business.' Goodwitch clapped her hands and gestured for everyone to form a circle. 'May I, Professor Ozpin?'

'Be my guest, Glynda'

'Right then, we have a whole squadron covering Runeterra at the moment. That leaves the rest of us here to cover Remnant. There's not much we can do about Beacon Academy and the CCT Tower without the help of architects and builders and there's no point in standing around here. We do know however that Aatrox is loose, and it is critical that we track him down.'

'But Glynda, I've already said that neither Port nor I know exactly where he went.' Oobleck brought up. 'Remnant's a big planet, and there's a possibility that Aatrox went back to Runeterra. It would be like trying to search for a needle in a haystack.'

'Aatrox is hardly a needle though.' Pantheon interjected. 'He is tumultuous and easily spotted through the amount of carnage and noise he makes. I gather that the technological advancements are ineffective at the moment, but if we make go west, there is a chance that we will find him along our path.'

'What are our chances though?'

'Not high, but not low either. I can guarantee that Aatrox's presence lingers long after he leaves. If we go now, we have a higher chance of finding him.'

'This is hardly a well thought-out plan, but Glynda is right: it's best to take action than for all of us to sit here and do nothing at all.' Ozpin agreed.

Goodwitch nodded. 'In that case, I want Team CFVY to decide what they wish to do from here, and Team ABRN for that matter too.'

Coco eyed her teammates. 'May we discuss this amongst ourselves, Professor Goodwitch?' she requested.

'By all means do. The same goes for you.' Goodwitch said, addressing Team ABRN.

Team CFVY broke away from the circle and formed their own one in private.

'We have no reason to go home yet, right?' said Coco.

'Hiyoko and my parents are probably missing me, but they know how busy I am and how well I get along with you guys.'

'I certainly don't have anyone to go back home to.' said Fox in a joking manner, although it did not belie how much he sorely missed having a true family of his own.

'And I am okay with staying with you guys too.' said Velvet.

'Well, that was easy.' Coco laughed. 'We're already at a unanimous decision.'

'Great minds think alike, wouldn't you say.' Fox winked.

'Yeah, evidently…'

'It's almost as if you weren't fretting at all earlier about how seemingly unstoppable Aatrox is.'

'Sometimes it's brains over brawn, Fox. Besides, now that I think about it, I've been longing for a new mission: something to redeem ourselves of our failure at Lower Cairn.'

'C'mon Coco, we need to put that behind us. The future ahead of us is bright, even with this whole ordeal with Aatrox and Runeterra.' said Velvet empathetically. 'We can do this.'

'Absolutely. We've improved since then, and if we have Atreus with us, we're bound to not screw up as royally as we did back then.' Yatsuhashi added.

'Way to put it lightly…' said Coco.

'Yatsu's right though.' Fox concurred. 'This is a great new opportunity for us, and Lower Cairn has nothing to do with our future.'

Coco forced grin onto her face. 'Yeah.'

' _Group hug?_ ' Fox sent.

They all smiled and embraced each other before reconvening with everyone else.

'Have you come to a verdict, then?' Goodwitch asked both Team CFVY and Team ABRN.

'We have. We're going to help search for Aatrox.' said Coco candidly.

'And what about you, Arslan?'

Arslan looked partially awkward as she spoke. 'If it does not disappoint you, Professor, we would like to return to Haven. We didn't really expect to go far beyond Beacon, and I think that Professor Lionheart would like to have his students back as soon as possible – especially with Team SSSN gone.'

'I suppose that is fair.' said Goodwitch. 'As teachers at Beacon, we really don't hold any authority over you, and I can see your reasoning.'

'Please do not see it as cowardice, Professor.' Nadir insisted. 'We would just rather commit ourselves to our own Kingdom, if that's okay with you.'

'That's absolutely fine.' said Ozpin. 'I can arrange for a Bullhead to take you back to Mistral if you so desire.'

'That would be great. Thanks, Professor.' Arslan bowed.

'Now then, shall we prepare for the mission to find Aatrox?' Goodwitch asked.

'Why not?' Port agreed. 'There's no time like the present.'

Goodwitch approached Team CFVY and lowered her voice so that only they could hear her. 'I hope you don't mind me bringing this up again, but do you remember what I said after you all came barging into Professor Ozpin's office after your last mission?'

They all grimaced. 'Yeah?'

'With a task as burdensome and potentially life-threatening as this one, I feel it necessary to say that you will be assigned either Professor Port or Dr. Oobleck as your supervisor. Please understand though that this is a particularly exceptional case. Even if I had not said that you would need faculty supervision for every mission from then on until we deemed you fit to operate on your own again, this one calls for an escort, irrespective of that.'

'That's perfectly okay, and we appreciate your concern, Professor Goodwitch.' said Velvet. Coco, Fox and Yatsuhashi nodded in agreement.

'Thank you for your understanding.' Goodwitch walked away towards Ozpin, Port and Oobleck. 'What do you think then? Who is going to accompany Team CFVY?'

'Which one of you is a better pilot?' Ozpin questioned.

'Between Barty and me, I'd reckon that he is.' said Port with a chuckle.

'You can handle a wheel as well, can't you, Peter?' said Oobleck.

'Yes, but this seems better suited to you.'

Oobleck had no proper objections. He simply nodded 'Very well then, I shall be the supervisor. Are we using this aircraft that you arrived here in?'

'If you can handle it, then it's all yours. The General's not here to stop you, so do as you please. Ideally you won't crash it though.' said Ozpin. 'Atreus, will do go with Team CFVY and Dr. Oobleck?'

'My service is yours, headmaster. If it is Aatrox that we seek, then I will certainly go with them.'

Ozpin walked up to Pantheon and offered him his hand. Pantheon took it in a firm grip and they shook. 'How luck would have it that our first encounter with Runeterra would be with such altruistic gentlemen.'

'If you asked me, Ryze hardly seemed to be overflowing with generosity, but my heart is warmed by your gratitude.'

Ozpin smiled and returned to Goodwitch's side.

'What are you going to do now, Professor Ozpin?' Goodwitch inquired.

'After we send Team ABRN back to Mistral, I need to check the vault.' he whispered.

'The vault? Is this about the Relic?'

'Yes. I need to see if we can still get in despite the wreckage of the school, and hope that it hasn't been caved in.'

'I see. Good thinking.'

'We need to do this as soon as possible. At least we know that the Maiden wasn't down there…'

Oobleck boarded the aircraft and took his place in the cockpit. Team CFVY sat back down in the passengers' seats, along with Pantheon.  
The hatch closed and Oobleck started the ignition.

'You gonna be okay, handling that thing, Doctor?' Coco asked half seriously, half patronisingly.

'Just watch me. We'll be up in the air and on our way in no time.' He retorted. Delicately, he guided the vehicle up into the air until it was at the right elevation before he pushed the lever forward, and they flew away.  
'You see? I've got this.'

'Congrats, Doctor.' said Fox. 'I had faith all the time.'

'And I appreciate your snarky comments, but don't just lounge around. We need to be on the lookout for Aatrox, and we could enter action at any moment, so stay vigilant.

'Got it.' Fox gave a thumbs up with his right hand. He was already slouching in his seat.

'We'll also need to stop soon and scavenge for any food and tools we can get our hands on, because I can tell that this is going to be a long mission.'

'You four can relax for now.' said Pantheon. 'I shall stand by the window keep my eyes wide open.' he put his spear and helmet down on the seat, and made his way towards Oobleck so that he could see outside.

'Make sure that all of you take turns looking out.' Oobleck ordered.

'Yeah, because windows are useful to me.' Fox commented wittily.

'E-except you of course.' Oobleck replied awkwardly. 'You have my apologies, Mr Alistair.'

'Don't worry about it, Doc. I'm just pulling your leg. Of course I'll be alert, just with my other senses.'  
' _Man, Oobleck's a good laugh, isn't he?_ ' Fox sent.

' _Yeah, he makes history a lot more enjoyable: even if I do struggle to keep up with what he's saying half the time.'_ Velvet sent.

' _I can imagine us going for a coffee with him once we graduate. I mean, it's in our name, and he's constantly drinking that coffee which makes him so damn energetic._ ' Coco sent.

' _I've always wondered what he actually drinks._ ' Yatsuhashi sent. ' _You would think that it's coffee, but surely it would have to be a REALLY strong type of coffee, cause I swear that normal coffee does not make you a blur of light and speak so fast that no one can understand you.'_

' _It probably is a strong coffee with excessive amounts of caffeine or some other kind of stimulant, but it's probably just the way he is: someone with superhuman levels of energy. It could be his Semblance._ ' Fox conjectured.

' _You might be on to something._ ' Coco sent. ' _Either way though, we'll have plenty of time to get to know him a bit better. Apparently when Team RWBY went on their first assignment with Oobleck, he asked them personal questions and stuff. Maybe he'll do the same with us._ '

' _Okay, now I can expect that. I hope that he doesn't ask anything too intrusive._ ' Yatsuhashi sent.

' _I'm sure it'll be fine. This mission is dangerous, but I have a good feeling about this. I can tell we're gonna have a good time together, especially with Atreus and Oobleck by our side._ ' Fox sent emphatically.

' _Yeah. Team CFVY, the hotshots of Beacon are back in action!_ ' Coco sent.

* * *

 _ **A shift in power. A great disturbance. Oscillation of matter. It seems that something of great significance has occurred. It is misconceived that the world has natural order, but it breaks down as soon as it is defined. There is order in chaos, not in aesthetics.**_

 _ **Has the veil been pierced again? The question must be answered.**_

 _ **It has. A new aperture has brought natural light in once more. How serendipitous that an opportunity to sate the thirst for knowledge has come to be. Time to begin the analysis.**_

 _ **The luminosity of this world is overwhelming, despite exposure to it on innumerable occasions. Although light brings enlightenment, too much light is redundant and is hard on the eye. Darkness brings comfort. Pleasantries favour me on this emergence however. The sky is dull and mostly without sunlight: obscured by thick grey clouds.**_

 _ **A plethora of structures: evidently constructed by sentient designers rather than nature's dishevelled fabrication. A closer inspection should be conducted. Just a bit of plasma will suffice.**_

 _ ***Q***_

 _ **Fine craftsmanship, yet it is derelict from extended time of neglect. Those walls crumbled with no adequate force: only a hue of plasma. Are the original designers incompetent, or was this place abandoned? Behaviour of life forms is still inconsistent and undetermined by knowledge. Another burning question that must be answered.**_

 _ **There should be another clue to be found. What else can I discover?**_

 _ **Something constructed from the organic material of a tree. Wood, reconstructed into a flat, rectangle, with a thin stick dug into the ground. Permanently visible speech has been etched into the wood. Precise analysis is needed here.**_

 _ ***Q***_

" _ **Kuroyuri"  
The autochthonous vernacular is unknown, but a rough translation can be deciphered through graphology. How convenient.**_

 _ **A species of flora. Fritillaria Camschatcensis. Attributable to the nouns of "Love" and "Curse". A philosophy of dichotomy is implied. Although falsifiable, the inhabitants of this settlement held faith that did not depend on empiricism. Fascinating.**_

 _ **I should search the vicinity, to unfold something else.**_

 _ **A narrow ditch, seemingly manmade, is here too. It runs across the area and turns at concrete points. This requires a larger radius of deconstruction for analysis.**_

 _ ***W***_

 _ **Nothing remarkable. Abundance of a chemical compound. Two pairs of hydrogen atoms, and one singular oxygen atom. Water is essential for life to survive, so there is no surprise in finding it. I do see though that a type of flower rests across the water's surface. Quite peculiar.**_

 _ **I speculate that there is little to see in this location. It would be useful to go somewhere else.**_

 _ **Stretching my appendages. It feels good again.**_

 _ **The ground before me holds nothing that interesting. Stones and pebbles. Unexciting.**_

 _ **Before me though, I am glimpsing a few…. trees.**_

 _ ***Q,W***_

 _ **Bark and branches. No leaves. No water, and the cells are lacking a functioning nucleus, cytoplasm and vacuole. The trees are dead. New evidence suggests that this place was attacked and overrun by a powerful force. The exact source is unknown.**_

 _ **What do I see in the distance? It's something, moving towards me at a high speed. Actually, multiple things are making their way in my direction. Lifeforms. Upon first inspection, they seem lacking in intelligence with a primitive form of confrontational assault.**_

 _ **Time for some organic deconstruction.**_

 _ ***RRRRRRR***_

 _ **They scream loudly. Gender cannot be determined by the pitch. Maybe they are genderless. The creatures are black and comprised of a weak cellular structure. This one represents a bear, with spikes on its back. Presumably an evolved form of defence. Too bad that it does not protect it from plasma.**_

 _ **The creatures are coming in packs. A great discovery.**_

 _ ***RRRRRRR***_

 _ **A smaller creature. These ones howl and closely resemble wolves. They are also black and have a similar genetic makeup as the first set of creatures. Although their bodily appearance differs, their anatomy and DNA are almost identical. Part of the same genus, but maybe not the same species.**_

 _ **They come again. I am surprised. This one is flying.**_

 _ ***RRRRRRR***_

 _ **A birdlike creature, also made of the same genetic makeup. It screeched loudly as it was disintegrated.**_

 _ **I conclude that these beasts seek prey. They sensed my presence and instinctively went for me. A common characteristic of mindless animals is hunger for food. I have no sympathy for their lack of thought.**_

 _ **Their matter appears to have dissolved. No trace of their remains. Have they ceased to evolve?**_

 _ **Identifying a new species. It runs towards me on four limbs. It's like a horse, with a something riding on its back. What an unpleasant noise it emits.**_

 _ ***RRRRRRRRRRRRRR***_

 _ **Even this one cannot withstand plasma. Hm, this is a fragile species. Its disintegration is oddly therapeutic.**_

 _ **What I deduce is that these beasts are not responsible for this structures in this area. They may be the cause of this settlement's abandonment. I have yet to make contact with any moderately intelligent organisms, but a clear distinction of intuition can be seen between these creatures and the evidence of what was once a place inhabited by a society. I wager that humans or an animal of biological resemblance were the occupants.**_

 _ **There is much more to learn about this world. It holds many comparable assets to the places I have already been, but there are distinctions too. I have only covered a single area though. I will go forth and uncover more of this world's secrets and conglomeration. It is a land rich of information. I just have to locate it.**_

 _ **As I travel for many units of time, I suddenly see a… person, carrying a bag on its back, and holding a large piece of paper in its hands.**_

 _ **My eye meets the person's. It drops the paper it's holding. I think it's in shock.**_

'Wh- what the heck?!

' _ **Greetings, person.**_ **'** _ **I say. 'What are you seeking?'**_

'Don't hurt me!'

' _ **You seek knowledge, the most valuable resource of all. That is why you explore.**_ **'**

'Get away from me, you monster!'

' _ **AS DO I!**_ **'**

 _ **It cries out in fright and runs away. My presence causes it distress: Expected. A perfect specimen for dissection.**_

 _ ***RRRRRRR***_

 _ **Human melting points remains inconsistent. The pitch of its scream is high, but below the median of a female. A male human. Not utterly mystifying, but it is a first contact, which in itself is enthralling. I have much to look forward to.**_

' _ **Thank you for your contribution!**_ **'**


	31. Nowhere to Hide

**Chapter 31** – Nowhere to Hide

A familiar sense of both thrill and fright rushed through Ruby's veins: the dynamic movement that an agile Huntsmen or Huntress feels on a regular basis. The imminent shock had passed, replaced with the bodily control that she had harnessed through practice and training.  
Ruby reached behind her back for Crescent Rose, deploying it into its sniper form. She shot beneath her to reduce her velocity and partially break her fall. She could use more ammunition, but instinctively knew that it would be better for her to save as many rounds as she could for whatever she might encounter in the near future. A quick observation of the ground informed her that nothing but sand lay below her.  
' _Shouldn't be too rough of a landing…_ '

The timing was crucial. Ruby waited until the last second before firing another round at her feet, successfully stopping her descent and landing on the ground without any harm to herself. She looked around – just in time to see someone else falling dangerously fast towards the ground. 'Ryze!'

Ruby returned Crescent Rose to her back and blitzed forward, leaving behind a thin trail of red rose petals. He was over a hundred metres away from her, and less than twenty from his death.  
It happened in less than two seconds. Ruby jumped and stretched out her arms to catch him, exiting her Semblance. Ruby landed on her feet, however she toppled under Ryze's weight. She fell backwards whilst Ryze rolled a few metres away.  
The peril has subsided. Ruby and Ryze both stood up, groaning. Ruby brushed the sand off her boots and skirt. Ryze checked his scroll to see if there was any serious wear or tear. He breathed a sigh of relief afterwards.

Ruby walked towards him. 'Ryze! Are you okay?!'

'Yeah. Thanks.' he replied nonchalantly, as though Ruby had only done the meagre favour of picking up something that Ryze had dropped on the floor. He placed his attention onto their surroundings.

'Umm, Ryze… where are we?' Ruby asked as politely as she could.

It didn't even take one full circle for him to vaguely know where they had ended up. 'Shurima…' he muttered.

'Is that good… or bad?'

'Not great, honestly.'

'And far are we from where we originally going to? Ionia wasn't it?'

'Depends. Shurima is a massive desert in the south of Runeterra, which is mostly wasteland. If we're in the north, we'd be marginally closer. Anywhere west and south however, and we're going to be taking a long time to get anywhere. Either way, we're miles away from our original destination.'

'Wait, where is everyone else?' Ruby asked, only just noticing that they were completely alone.

'I don't know, I don't know!' Ryze snapped. 'Dammit, by the gods, we're in a mess. I cannot believe that a dragon of a myth would be our downfall. We should have gone straight to Valoran, because this was a stupid idea from the beginning.'

'Sorry…' Ruby murmured. 'I didn't mean to… cause you any more trouble.'

Ryze sighed. He turned to face Ruby again and put his right hand on her shoulder. 'It's not your fault, Ruby. Please forgive my temper. I try to keep it under control, but bad situations get under my skin very easily. Over a thousand years of unwanted stress does a lot to a man's head.'

'Well, I'll try and not get in your way then. I promise.' Ruby said earnestly.

Ryze removed his hand from her shoulder. 'That's a start. Just don't do anything stupid, stick close to me and listen to my instructions when I give them to you, because you know nothing about Runeterra.'

'Of course.'

'You're a practising Huntress, right? So you probably have common sense. I already know you're capable of fighting, and you're probably not half bad at listening to orders, because you're a student.'

'Yeah, that about sums it up, hehe.'

'Right then, I just got to figure which direction we need to move in. We're pretty much in the middle of nowhere, with no distinct landmarks or sights anywhere.'

'Are we trying to get directly to Ionia?'

'That was the original plan, but as you pointed out, your acquaintances seem to have vanished. We're in the Shuriman desert and there's no telling what the hands of chance dealt everyone else.'

'Maybe you could use that ability where you teleport us somewhere.' Ruby suggested. 'It would save us the trouble of walking through this desert heat.'

'Unfortunately it's not that simple.' said Ryze grimly. 'The Realm Warp rune can only be used a certain number of times before it has to recharge, and the further you go with it, the more of its energy you use up. When I went to Remnant, I had to burn through almost all of its power, and it only just had enough left for me to warp you away from Aatrox, towards the docks. Besides, it'd be better if we could regroup with your friends, so we wouldn't want to warp past them by accident. I never thought I'd see the day where I'd hear myself say that I want to be with a bunch of people…'

'I think that this is what you need Ryze: a team that you can rely on. This might be a good opportunity for you to be able to experience friendship and teamwork for the first time in ages.'

'That is _if_ we all get back together. The dragon's might was very powerful, but I suppose you're right. I do need to try working with people again, as much as I inherently dislike the idea.'

'You said that you thought that dragon was a myth, didn't you?' Ruby asked curiously.

'I certainly did. According to legend, Ao Shin is a storm dragon that protects Ionia from incoming dangers. No one thought he was real though, considering the lack of reliable reports. That, and Ionia was invaded almost a decade ago by an imperialist region, known as Noxus. They fought a bloody war, and nothing or no one mentions anything about a dragon from the sky. Personally, I thought that the idea of Ao Shin was a misconception of another dragon: one that I know truly exists.'

'Ooh.' Ruby uttered. 'I know that the desert is all I've seen of this world so far, but I am already fascinated by it.'

'If we get moving, I could tell you more about it as go: the bad things and the minimal good that there is too.'

'It can't be all that bad, can it?' Ruby wondered.

'I've already told you briefly about the Rune Wars, and then Shen and Atreus talked about their troubled pasts. The list of horrors goes on endlessly, whilst the good of this world doesn't make up for any of it. Whatever though. Forget about that for now. We need to figure out which direction we go in.'

'Ahh!' Ruby exclaimed. 'If we want to get to Ionia, why don't we follow the direction that we came from?'

'How can you tell though with no indicators?' Ryze asked perplexedly.

'I can see which direction my feet were pointing when I landed.' Ruby retraced her steps and moved slowly towards her initial landing zone. She pointed at where her toes had been in the sand. 'If I was flying forward this way, then if we head _that_ way in a straight line,' She waved her left hand in the corresponding direction to show Ryze what she was talking about. 'we'll be roughly on our way to Ionia.'

'That's some decent logic you have there. I'll admit that I'm impressed.'

'Aw, it's nothing.' said Ruby modestly with a timid laugh.

'It might be difficult to keep going straight in this desert heat, without water, but we might as well give it a try, so let's go.'

'Yeah!'

And they set off, taking their first of many steps.

'We'd better not expend too much energy though. I honestly don't have high hopes of finding water anytime soon.' Ryze glowered. He held his hand over his eyes and looked up at the sun. 'If only that thing would go away.'

'We'll be fine.' said Ruby with an optimistic, but serious face. 'You haven't given up on your quest even after a thousand years. I doubt that this desert will be the end of you.'

'So naïve… yet so determined and willing to face the world head-on.' said Ryze, more to himself than to Ruby.

'Ehehe, well I'm only fifteen years old.' Ruby said quietly. 'I don't have the experience that you do Ryze, but I see a reason to continue to fight for good. Remnant is filled with the creatures of Grimm – the black monsters you saw at Beacon – and bad guys who commit crimes and robberies, and I've fought them, with mixed results, but with enough victories to have confidence in myself: to stay positive, because there is an opportunity to succeed. We just have to take it.'

Ryze stopped walking. He felt something in his heart that he had not felt in a long time: 'You know, I have to say that there's something extraordinary about you.' Respect and admiration.

'Really? In what way?' coming to a halt after a delay.

'Last night, you said that you wanted to see peace as much as I do. You're very young and you're still a kid, yet you have a purity about you that I've never seen in anyone else in my whole life. I see a spark of hope and unconditional kindness that could rekindle the world if it became a roaring fire, so long as you continue to grow and develop as a person.'

'You really think so?' Ruby smiled eagerly.

'This is a strange way of putting it, but if you were a Rune, I reckon that you would be the most powerful one of all, and one that could override all the other destructive Runes, and save the world.'

'Ryze, that's such a nice thing to say. But your heart is probably far bigger than mine, if you can persist with your mission like that so for long.'

'Me? Haha, not a chance. I've made too many regretful decisions for that to be true.'

'But you recognise your own mistakes. Remember what Blake told you last night? You're doing what you think is right, and you've had to do things that you would rather avoid, because you know that those actions are wrong, ordinarily. But if they lead you to the end of your mission eventually, it will have been worth it.'

Ryze opened his mouth to object, but found nothing on his tongue. He closed it again and simply nodded.

'On that night, when you came to Beacon, I had a run-in with a guy that's been stealing and working in crime for a while now. This wasn't the first time that we've meet, and he told me that I have spirit, but the real world doesn't make room for that. That was his reason for being a bad guy, because he sees evil as the winning side. I think I have realised that the real world isn't like a fairy tale; that was one of the first things Blake told me when we first met. But I don't see that as a reason to give up. I'd rather die trying than give in to evil. Plus, being a Huntress is just really exciting. Do you feel that way too?'

'…yes, I suppose I do. The world is harsh, and doing wrong is often the easy way out, but like you, I refuse to sit by and let evil do what it wants. I wasn't exaggerating when I said that the World Runes are weapons of overwhelming destruction, which can destroy entire landscapes. I cannot let them fall into the wrong hands, because there are plenty of people who would mishandle them. The key difference between us however, is how much hope we have for the future, and how much enjoyment we derive from our lives. I am old, and I am tired of the burden that I have put on myself, but to me this mission was never fun or exciting to begin with. If I knew that there was someone reliable and capable whom I could pass on my responsibility onto, then I would do it, because I envy those who can have a good night's sleep and wake up to a job that they love. I don't know the cultural aspects of being a Huntress, but I would've thought that you would get sick of it as you get older. I don't see why you would actively want to put yourself into that lifestyle. I guess that's what I am intrigued by about you.'

'Maybe it's just a personality difference. I enjoy the action and you don't. But I don't think that matters. We both agree that there's a purpose to fight for good, that it's not a waste of time and that it is better than being bad. That's what's most important, right? Any other reason is just a bonus.'

'You're right. Being selfless is hard and not always rewarding, however it matters not what you have to gain from it, but what others will.'

Ruby beamed. 'That's why I wanted to come to Runeterra with you: not for my sake but to help you get rid of the Runes.'

Ryze smiled back. 'I just hope that you're truly incorruptible. Almost all of my former followers were susceptible to the Rune's power, some of whom I originally thought wouldn't fall into that temptation. The one who I remember the most, besides Kegan Rhode, was a woman called Kala. She was a Shuriman tribeswoman actually and lost her son years before I met her. We found a Rune, and when she picked it up, a desire to use it to resurrect her son coursed through her. It was only because she held onto it for only a few seconds that she did not fall victim to its enticement. I knew that it _could_ bring him back to life, but not in that way that she would want to see him. She is the only person I know who never succumbed to the Runes once she made contact with one. She was close though.'

Ruby pondered. 'I don't know if I would be immune to them, but I promise that I will try to resist their effects. I don't think that I even have anything that I could use them for.'

'If we find any, I will ensure that you are protected from them, and any of your friends, if we find them. Anyway, let's keeping moving.'

* * *

Ruby and Ryze pressed on, making sure that their footprints were going straight.

'So Ryze, you said that you were going to tell me more about Runeterra and how cool it is.' Ruby reminded him.

'Oh yeah, I did. Anything on your mind in particular?'

'You mentioned that you first thought that Ao Shin was mixed up with some other dragon. I'd like to know more about Runeterra's mythical creatures.'

'Hmm… where to begin with him?' Ryze muttered, recollecting everything he knew. 'The dragon is known to some people as "Aurelion Sol". He is understood to be the forger of all stars, although some astrologists believe that he is not the only star dragon to exist. Testimonies of Aurelion Sol's appearance and size are not consistent. Some say that he is merely the size of a cloud; others claim that he is the size of a planet, and some go as far as to say that he is as large as a galaxy. But I myself have seen his tail. He fills up the sky, and certainly dwarfs the concept of Ao Shin, but it would be hyperbole to say that he was bigger than a galaxy.'

'Amazing! I would hope that he's good though.'

'It's hard to tell with him. I'm under the impression that Aurelion Sol is an intelligent being, and potentially very arrogant, but that's the full extent of my knowledge about him. As far as I know, he doesn't have an allegiance to people on Runeterra. I have to say though that it would be good if he could get off his cosmic rear and do some good for us.'

'He sounds so fascinating though. If it's from a distance, I'd love to see him.' said Ruby jovially.

'Are there not any stories of space dragons in Remnant faith or mythology?' Ryze inquired. 'Since your planet is presumable close to a sun, just like mine.'

'Being honest here, I'm not very familiar with religious beliefs in Remnant. I've only heard of a tale of two brothers, but I don't know much about it.'

'Never mind then.'

'What else is there that's particularly interesting about Runeterra?' Ruby persisted.

'Umm, let's see… There's the Darkin, which Atreus told you about yesterday. There are different regions with their own cultures and ways of life... A lot can be said, but I couldn't say with confidence what stands out, and we don't have time for you to be overwhelmed by a history and geography lesson.'

'Maybe you could tell me more about Shurima, since that's where we are at the moment.'

Ryze wiped the sweat off his forehead. 'Look Ruby, I'm not saying that your curiosity to learn more about the world that you're currently in is a bad thing – on the contrary, it's a good attitude to take – but we should save our breath. If we take a break, or find a settlement or a source of water, then you can ask your questions. Right now though I would rather not talk too much and focus on where we're actually going, okay?'

'Yeah… that's fine with me.' said Ruby, who was now very conscious of Ryze's temperament in the desert heat.

Ruby stayed on Ryze's left, to ensure that the footsteps they left behind were clearly visible. The journey was predictably uneventful for a long while, with nothing but sand and a few shallow mounds located sporadically around them. No indigenous fauna or any signs of life lay around them, unless it was buried in the sand.  
The only indicator of how long they had travelled for was the position of the sun, but even that only provided a rough estimate. How long could their minds and bodies keep it up?

'This really is futile.' said Ryze when the sun was only scarcely in the west at the point of the afternoon. 'Whenever I've been in Shurima, I've always rode on these creatures called skallashi. They're ideal for traversing the desert, since they're very tall and have long necks that you can sit on.'

'Do you think that your teleportation power has recharged a bit by now?' Ruby brought up.

'Ehh, it might work. Let me have a look.' Ryze reached behind him for his thick tome (Ruby only just noticed that Ryze was carrying one) and flicked through the pages. 'I might be able to get us a short distance, but nothing more.'

'Will it help us?'

'Again, I can't be sure. We won't know what we'll be passing by, but if it helps us get closer to the end of the desert, then I am willing to risk it.'

'Okay then. Do what've you got to do.' said Ruby somewhat awkwardly.

Ryze closed his book and returned it to his back. He clapped his hands, channelling his arcane magic.

Ruby looked at her feet to see the bewildering blue circle form around them. ' _I wonder if there's anyone on Remnant who has a Semblance similar to this._ '

A flash of blue and white light exploded around them, and they vanished.

* * *

The limbo between the warp was a feeling only describable by those who had experienced it. Ruby could not adequately illustrate the sensation though. The closest one could say through words was that it was like being in a deep sleep for less than two seconds, and to be suddenly jerked awake, due to how disorienting the light was and the transition of their bodily matter.

What could one have expected their emergence spot to have been? Much different from where they had begun the Realm Warp?  
Ruby and Ryze reappeared in another flash of blue and white light. They opened their eyes to see… nothing new: just sand and a few more mounds.

'Dammit!' Ryze barked. 'That was no good at all!'

'Sorry!' Ruby said, alarmed. 'I just thought it might help.'

Ryze scowled, but fought to regain control of his frustration. 'You aren't to blame.' he said coarsely. 'I probably should've expected that. Settlements in Shurima are densely populated, but sparse in area coverage. Oh, if I only knew the specifics and details of Shurima, then I might be able to tell where we are.'

'Well, at least we've skipped some of the distance, right?' said Ruby. 'And if we continue to follow the sun, then maybe we'll still be on track to getting out of the desert.'

'I can't predict anything with reassurance, but we still don't have much choice.'

'Are we gonna keep going then?'

'I reckon that we have to. Okay,' he took a deep breath. 'let's stay on course and get go- huh?'

'What is it?' Ruby asked.

'There's something in the distance, over there.' Ryze pointed to his left.

From afar, it seemed like a large wheel was rolling through the desert, kicking up waves of sand behind it. The thing was accelerating towards them at an incredibly fast pace.

'Ruby, get ready for anything!' Ryze ordered. He clenched his fists, letting the magic flow to his fingertips.  
Ruby deployed Crescent Rose into its sniper form and steadied it on the sand.

'Is it making a beeline for us?' Ruby questioned.

'It looks like it.' Ryze responded. 'If it gets too close, I'll snare it!'

Ruby hesitated to shoot at it. Doing so might only aggravate it.

It was getting closer, and closer, and _closer_. As the distance between them decreased, more of the thing could be discerned. It was heavily armoured and spiked. Getting run over by that thing would spell excruciating pain, or worse.

'Gah!' Ruby panicked and fired a shot.

It swerved out of the way and went in a circle around Ruby and Ryze, maintaining a distance of twelve metres, until it eventually slowed down. Seven seconds passed, and it uncurled to reveal a large armadillo/tortoise hybrid with an excessively spiky shell. Its flesh was green and had yellow eyes without pupils or irises, and an uncanny smile. The creature walked awkwardly towards them, like a dog coming for a sniff.

Ruby converted Crescent Rose into its scythe form, and Ryze held his magic tightly in his hands.

The creature seemed completely oblivious to Ruby and Ryze's defensive stances. It slowed its walk until only a few metres separated them. It looked up and down at Ruby and Ryze, seemingly scrutinising them from head to toe.  
'Ok.' it suddenly said, quietly.

'Umm, hello?' Ruby said nervously.

'Hmm.' it grunted back.

'C-can we help you?'

'Alright.' It pointed to its right with its stubby arm and walked a few steps slowly in the direction it had indicated before stopping and facing them once more.

'Do you, want us to follow you?' Ruby asked anxiously.

'Yeah.' It curled up into its ball form once again and began to rev up on the spot without moving.

'What do we do?' Ruby whispered. 'Do you know what that thing is?'

'Not a clue.' Ryze whispered back.

'I wonder what it wants from us.'

It began to move, slowly at first, but was speeding away within seconds.

'Ryze, hand on to me.' Ruby commanded. She raised Ryze off the sand and put him into her arms.

'Guh, Ruby, what are you doing?'

'Following it.' She entered breakneck speed and they took off, blitzing just above the ground.

It was a thrill ride unlike anything Ryze had ever experienced. The world spun around him in a disarray of the desert's yellow-orange, and the sky's blue, and the inside of his body was being shaken like a volatile soda in a can. 'R-r-ruby, s-s-stop it!' he cried out.

But Ruby wasn't listening. Though difficult during her semblance, she kept her attention focused on the spiky ball. Fortunately, it was not going too fast for Ruby to not be able to catch up. Who knew what its top speed was though?

The creature decelerated gradually, going slower and slower until it came to a stop.  
Ruby turned off her Semblance and fought for control of her legs. She was still not used to carrying people with her though. She stomped multiple times to force herself to a halt, but the sudden drop in momentum was too much for her. She slid in the hand on her heals, and fell forwards into the sand, dropping Ryze straight down. They both landed with their faces squarely in the sand, and they spat out a mouthful of it as they stood back up.

Ryze put both of his hands on his head. 'Ugh, my head. It won't stop spinning.'

'Sorry…' Ruby said apologetically. 'I just didn't want to lose it.'

'W-where are we a-anyway?' Ryze stammered.

Ruby looked over Ryze's shoulder to see the spiked creature standing next to the bank of a – 'It's a river!' she exclaimed. 'We're saved! There's water!' She ran to the river's edge and peered into it. The water wasn't exactly clean and sparkling, but it wasn't completely murky either.

Ryze staggered over to Ruby and the spiked creature. He sank to his knees and exhaled. 'Thank the gods.'

Ruby made eye contact with the creature. 'Thank you.' she said, still unsure of how to communicate with it.

'Ok.'  
Without another word or moment of hesitation, it entered its ball form and began to zip away.

'Hey, wait! Don't leave!' Ruby begged.

The creature made no response. Within ten seconds it was completely obscured by the billows of sand that it splashed behind in its wake, and disappeared into the distance.

Ryze, without hesitation, scooped up some water in his hands and lifted it to his lips. Ruby did the same. They drank until their thirst was quenched. In the vicious climate of the desert, they did not care about the dirt and the sand.  
Ryze was finally able to untighten his stress. He removed the scroll from his back, stretched his arms and laid down in the sand. 'Ruby, tell me: what happened just now? You picked me up, and we somehow ended up here. And what happened to that spiky animal?'

'In Remnant, many people have their own unique superpower. We call it a "Semblance". Mine is to go really fast. I used it to follow that strange creature.'

'Interesting… Wait, couldn't you have told me about that earlier?' Ryze said, frustrated.

'Sorry, again. I still haven't mastered control over it, but I think I'm getting better, and I can only go short distances before it wears off. Also, people tend to get overwhelmed by how fast they go when I carry them, as you now know. Hehe…'

'Hmm, alright then, at least I'm aware of this; it could definitely come in handy.'

'Yeah. Oh, and that rolling thing just left. It lead us here, but didn't stick around. I wanna know more about it though, since it did us a favour.'

'Ah, forget about it. I'm grateful, but it doesn't concern us. Let's just relax here for a while before we get moving again. I think it would be wise to follow the river though. We are more likely to stumble upon a settlement this way, because the populace of Shurima are more likely to live near one.'

'Yeah, let's do that.'

The idea of relaxing in the desert was easier said than done, with the sun pouring its light, and its heat scorching the sand. Despite this, it was great to give their feet an opportunity to rest.

'C'mon then, time to get moving.' Ryze ordered.

'K then.' Ruby stood up, brushing the sand off her back.

'It's fortunate for us to have a source of water close by. If it gets too dark, or if we run out of energy from no food, we can rest by this river.'

'Should we jump over, so that we're on the side that's closer to where we want to be?'

'Not a bad idea. Let's jump across then.'  
Ruby went first, making the distance with ease. Ryze followed after. He was nowhere near as athletic as Ruby though, and barely made the gap. Ruby caught his hand to stop him from tipping over (and ruining his scroll).

'Umm, Ryze?' said Ruby as he pulled him to safety.

'What is it?'

'It may be beneficial to stick to the river, but I just thought: what if it goes even further away from Ionia?'

'Hmm…' Ryze fiddled with his beard. 'Realistically, we aren't going to make it out of Shurima by sunset. We're going to have to settle for somewhere that's even remotely habitable, or just stay by the river. Good point though. We'll concentrate on how this river meanders as we go along, okay?'

'Yeah, that should work.'

The day was on the brink of its closing, with the sky hanging onto its last few moments of perfectly bright blue. The intense heat was steadily being cooled down.

Ruby's stomach grumbled, and she held her right hand over her belly and she groaned.

'Ignore it.' said Ryze firmly. 'Your body can go for longer without food than it can without water. You're a strong girl, so keep it up.'

'Fine…' Ruby said glumly. Her exuberant buoyancy were turning into morose embers. Was this how things were going to end: dying from being stranded in a desert, with none of her friends or family to save her? ' _I miss my team, and everyone else for that matter, but especially Yang, Weiss and Blake. I wonder what happened to them. They'd better be okay, because I can't bear to lose any of them. Even with Ryze here, I've never needed them now more than ever before._ '  
She struggled to keep her head raised and her eyes on the river. Ryze was leading the way, so Ruby had subconsciously let her acute senses slack.

Ryze's gaze went to a fro, from the north horizon, to the south. Nothing as far as he could see. Not only was their situation dire, but it was also painfully mundane. 'This is ridiculous.' he muttered under his breath. ' _Surely we would've found something by now. Ruby's friends might not even be in Shurima. Not being together has already complicated things, but if they have ended up somewhere else in Runeterra, then this makes things even more difficult._ '

* * *

Something in the distance.  
'Ruby, look.' Ryze put her attention onto another _thing_ moving rapidly towards their location. Was it the fortuitous creature that had led them to the river?'

'It's not spewing lots of sand behind it this time.' Ruby commented.

'Stay on your guard though.' Ryze instructed.

It was not going straight for them, but was certainly coming in their general direction. It got closer: close enough to be discerned. It was not the spiky ball, but a person, riding atop a stone through the sand, like a board on the sea. The corner of the eye caught Ruby and Ryze, and suddenly brought the rock to a stop. The person got off, and jogged towards them. She was a young girl, probably of a similar age to Ruby, with brown hair, a red coat with two long tassels, and a headdress and shoulder pads made of stones. 'Oh my goodness, travellers! Are you okay?!' she asked concernedly.

Ruby and Ryze hesitated to answer, unsure of what this girl wanted.  
'Yes, we're fine, absolutely fine.' Ryze replied dismissively after a few seconds of awkward silence.

'No, we're not. We need help.' said Ruby.

'What troubles you? Please tell me, so that I may help.' the girl asked.

'It's kinda embarrassing to admit, but we're lost and don't know how to get out of this desert.' Ruby answered.

'Where were you trying to get to?'

'Ionia. Do you know how we can get there?'

'You are a long way from there, however I do know. I went to Ionia not too long ago, but I have come home to see my family again and make sure that they are safe.'

'That's so sweet.' Ruby commented. 'So umm, maybe you could help us by giving us some directions?'

'To be on your way to Ionia, you must go north past the Kumungu Jungle, then through the city states of Piltover and Zaun, and then you will be in Noxian territory. It is from there that you can take a boat to the continent of Ionia.'

'We already know where Ionia is.' Ryze said impatiently. 'We just want to know how to get out of Shurima.'

'The most direct way would be to proceed north until you reach the Kumungu Jungle, like I said, but I would not recommend that today. The moon is nearing, and it would be perilous for you to tackle the jungle at night time. Instead, I will take you to the Bel'zhun, where food and water will be available.'

'So, is Bel-whatever it's called a good place?' Ruby questioned.

'It is a coastal outpost, and a Noxian colony.'

'Hold on a minute.' Ryze interrupted. 'Did you say a Noxian colony? I don't like the idea of us going into an area that is under the influence of Noxus. That's asking for trouble.'

'Do not worry. I have been to Bel'zhun on multiple occasions, and the native Shurimans get along with the Noxian colonists. If you keep out of trouble, then they will have no problem with your arrival.'

'We have been following this river, hoping that we would find somewhere good for us. Do you know where it leads to?' Ruby asked.

'To follow this river would bring you into the heart of the Kumungu Jungle, just above the isolated faction of Ixtal.'

This information was meaningless to Ruby, so she just nodded her head. 'Is there anything notable back that way?' she said.

'Oh no, you must not follow the river too far to the west, otherwise you will encounter serious dangers.'

'What kind of dangers?' Ryze asked.

'Terrible ones. Please take my word for it. You do not wish to head in that direction.'

'Well, if you say so then.' said Ruby. Her mind sought an answer to what kind of dangers that the girl was talking about, but perhaps it was best to not know. 'So, are we going to Bel'thingy?'

'If that is okay with you, then we shall.'

'Sounds good.' Ruby nodded.

'If so, please follow me to my stone.' the girl said. She jogged back to the slate that she had been surfing on, picking it up and turned it to face the direction she had come from. She stood on it and turned to face Ruby and Ryze. 'Please stand directly behind.' she commanded.

'Excuse me?' said a confused Ryze.

'To take you to Bel'zhun, I must carry you there. I beg you to not be alarmed.'

'I'll do it.' said Ruby subserviently.

'Put your hands on my shoulders.'

Ruby stretched her fingers before she gently laid her hands on the girl's stony shoulder pads. Something shook beneath her feet.  
'Woah!' Ruby gasped in fright as a stone emerged from the ground beneath her feet. It raised her up to the girl's height, and it merged with the stone that she was standing on.

'You do the same.' the girl said to Ryze.

'Fine.' Ryze stepped forward and gingerly placed his fingers on Ruby's shoulders. Just like with Ruby, a stone plopped up from the sand underneath Ryze's feet, and it merged with the two other stones, forming a rather long surfboard.

'H-how did you…' Ruby faltered.

'It's not worth explaining in detail, but I shall say that stone moves by my will, although I have yet to fully master it.'

'That's so cool.' Ruby whispered. 'Is that your Semblance?'

'What's a Semblance?' the girl asked, perplexedly.

'As in, is it your own superpower?'

'I wouldn't put it that way myself, but I suppose you could say it is.'

'Either way, that's amazing.'

'That's nice, but let's cut the chit chat and just go.' said Ryze impatiently.

'Good idea,' said the girl. 'but before we proceed, may I ask for your names?'

'I'm Ruby, and this is Ryze.'

'Ruby and Ryze: such beautiful names…. Mine is Taliyah.'

'Aww, that's a pretty name too.'

'Thank you.' Taliyah smiled back at her. 'Now hold on, this may be rough.' She scrunched her eyes and clenched her fists. 'Focus Taliyah, focus…' The ground began to shake, over a few seconds. It was the perfect dramatic moment, waiting for something awesome to happen.  
It did. The stone began to move: slowly at first, but it soon picked up speed and accelerated forward. Fortunately for them, the wind was blowing into their backs, so the sand that was being kicked up from the stone did not blow into their eyes.

Ruby watched the sand in awe as they surfed through it smoother than water itself. How this was possible was beyond her understanding, but it did not stop her mesmerisation.

'It's a straight line from here, so it should take about an hour at most to get to Bel'zhun.' Taliyah explained.

'Good to know.' said Ryze, seeing fortune on the horizon.

Ruby wanted to talk to Taliyah: to ask more about her and who she was, but was conscious that she might need to concentrate on what she was doing. She was not sure how much energy Taliyah needed to expend to maintain control. She remembered her mentioning that she had not fully mastered this technique yet. Perhaps moving in a straight line was easy, but turning left or right might have been far more difficult.

The ride itself, though unconventional for sure, overall felt no different from simply driving along the highways in Vale, but without a roof over their head and no traffic. Nothing had yet to stand in their way.

Yet…

* * *

Half an hour passed of nothing but sand. Now, the terrain was getting slightly rough, and for the first time on their cruise, Taliyah had to manoeuvre the stone.  
'Hold on, bumps and stones are up here.' Taliyah warned them.

'Thanks.' replied Ruby.

'Understood.' Ryze also returned.

Even with Taliyah proclaiming to not have conquered the art of sand surfing, her confidence brought them safely through the rocky surface.

'We're getting close to Kenethet, which is south of Bel'zhun.' Taliyah announced. 'We're going to pass through it though, because it is only home to a few nomad tribes. They won't bother us. Wave at them if you wish.'

Ruby nodded and smiled at Taliyah as she looked over her shoulder. She reciprocated Ruby's soft visage.

A subtle crackling sound could be heard, even through the wind rushing by their ears.

'Oh no…' Taliyah said apprehensively.

'What is it?' Ruby asked.

'Hold tight, we're coming to a stop!' Taliyah said perturbed. She pressed her feet down on the front of the stone hard, sharply bringing the three of them to a complete halt.

Ruby held her right hand over her chest, feeling her heart beating moderately fast.

'Why are we stopping?' Ryze asked demandingly.

'Please stay quiet.' Taliyah ordered.

The same crackling sound played, this time with an audible echo, and far louder with the wind not lapsing over them. It was menacingly eerie.

'No, this is not good…' Taliyah whispered.

'Taliyah, do you know what the sound is?' Ruby asked whisperingly.

Taliyah pointed north. 'Over there.'

It was slightly difficult to see from a distance, but something was moving through the sand. It looked like a dorsal fin.'

'If I'm not mistaken, that's a Xer'Sai.'

'And what is that exactly?' Ryze questioned.

'An apex predator of the desert.' said Taliyah said nervously.

'What?!' Ruby cried out.

'Ruby, I said be quiet!' Taliyah hissed.

Ruby clapped her hands over her mouth. 'Sorry.' She said, her voice muffled.

The fin suddenly turned and began to head slowly towards them.

'Any second, we might have to make a run for it.' Taliyah informed them. 'Be ready for anything.'

Ryze simply nodded, whilst Ruby gulped.

As the fin got closer to them, its immense size and the danger that they were in was becoming more and more apparently. There was no mistaking it now.

'Yep, we're not taking any more risks. We're getting out of here!' said Taliyah in a panic. She stomped on the stone with her left foot, instantly turned it around and blasted off.

The Xer'Sai screeched and picked up its pace: its sights (or lack of it) locked onto them. The chase was on.

Adrenaline overloaded them in fear, and their hearts pumped more blood through their bodies than they could handle. Most inconveniently of all though, the wind was now blowing strongly towards them, and Taliyah had to squint to protect her eyes.

Ruby and Ryze looked behind them. It was still relatively far away, but the speed at which they were travelling did not widen the gap between them and the Xer'Sai.  
Could they fight it? Ruby had fought and killed countless Grimm, and Ryze had centuries of experience in combat. Maybe, but it was beneath the sand, and they couldn't tell how big the beast itself was.

Ruby reached behind her back for Crescent Rose, and held it out to the side to deploy it into a its sniper form.

Without even communicating it to each other, Ruby and Ryze awkwardly switched places on the stone whilst holding on for dear life to Taliyah's shoulders as support and balance, so that Ruby was at the rear.  
'What are you doing?! You almost made us fall off!'

'Getting ready to attack it!' Ruby replied.

Taliyah had doubts that this piece of technology could do much to a Xer'Sai. If anything, it might just exasperate it, but decided not to object.  
Ryze stood sideways, using his right hand to grip onto Taliyah's left shoulder, and his left hand on Ruby's right shoulder to stop her from plummeting to her doom. The possibility of death was shielded only by Taliyah's control over the stone, and their own balance…

Holding Crescent Rose with both of her hands at that moment, whilst they were travelling so fast was horrendously risky, but doable. She mounted the handle on her left shoulder and peered through the scope, aiming it just in front of its dorsal fin. Now was not the time for hesitation, but she wondered if she should actually shoot it, as a feeling of incertitude, similar to Taliyah's, crossed her mind. She knew that her bullets were only typically lethal against the Grimm: creatures with no Aura or soul. How durable was a Xer'Sai? Could it withstand a shot from Crescent Rose?

A shot of purple energy suddenly erupted from the Xer'Sai, rocketing towards them like a missile.

'Look out!' Ruby cried out.

Taliyah gasped and swerved the stone to their right, barely dodging the shot as it passed them.

'Woah, agh!' Ruby felt her heart beat out of her chest and tumbled left – if not for Ryze putting his arm around her neck at the last second to save her. 'Thanks.' she puffed, but Ryze didn't hear her over the wind, and the Xer'Sai emitting a sound of what seemed like a rasp of frustration.  
Ruby recovered her offensive position on the stone, with the handle back on her shoulder and her left eye looking through the scope. At least she now knew that it could do that. What other predatory moves did it have though...?

'Should I shoot it?!' she queried.

'It's worth a try! Better to shoot it now than when it's closer to us! We'll see what reaction it gives us!' Ryze suggested.

'Okay, here goes nothing!' Ruby gritted her teeth and pulled the trigger, hitting it straight in the fin and it growled. She did not anticipate the recoil from Crescent Rose however. It pushed her backwards into Ryze, who was knocked into Taliyah's back.  
Taliyah flailed her arms to keep upright. By some miracle, they remained on the stone. 'What on earth is going on back there?!' she said in dread.

'Sorry!' Ruby shouted. 'I forgot that that happens!'

'It's alright, but what happened to the Xer'Sai?!'

Ruby and Ryze looked at the sand. 'Yes! It's fallen back by a few metres or so!' Ruby said with some triumph. 'Should I shoot it again?!'

'Only if absolutely necessary! We don't to be pushed over again!' said Ryze.

'Isn't now a more necessary time than ever?!'

'Yes, but can you control that weapon of yours?!'

'Try and push me when I shoot it! Maybe that'll negate the recoil!'

'Let's hope your physics are on point then!'

Ruby readied Crescent Rose to shoot again. 'Okay, three. Two. One. Fire!'

As Ruby was forced back, Ryze let go of Taliyah for a split second, so that he could push Ruby back with both of his hands.  
She had been right: the recoil was counteracted. Ruby and Ryze stood upright as if nothing had happened.

The Xer'Sai growled again, and shot out another missile of purple energy.

'Dodge, dodge it!' Ruby screamed.

Taliyah turned the stone, this time to their left. They had evaded the attack by about a metre more than last time – thanks to the space that they had made between them. Thankfully, the second shot from Crescent Rose had increased the length of the gap between them. Rapidly shooting it in quick succession might deter it from coming any closer, but there was now way that they could withstand the amount of knockback it would generate.

Taliyah analysed the area in front of her. It only occurred to her now that she had no idea where she was heading. All that had been on her mind was getting away from the Xer'Sai. She looked into the distance, and saw tall, derelict building, made out of stone and sand, which was surrounded by the rubble of what was once a blooming city. Something was floating upwards, rising above the tall building at the centre of the settlement. It was radiating with light blue and, although not noticeable from where they were, it had fragments of stone surrounding it, which had failed to encase it.

A burst of its arcane energy erupted from the source and soared towards them.

'Yikes!' Taliyah screamed. Without warning, she sharply swerved the stone to the right, avoiding the blast of energy as it exploded upon hitting the sand.  
The Xer'Sai hit the sand swam right past it.

'Oh, no, no, no! Not now!' Taliyah groaned.

'What is it this time?!' Ruby said after she fought to regain her footing.

'Xerath!'

'You've got to be kidding me!' Ryze exclaimed. 'Not him!'

'What is a "Xerath"?!' Ruby asked, with her eyes darting back and forth between the Xer'Sai and Xerath.

'No time to explain, just focus on the Xer'Sai! I'll make sure we don't get hit by Xerath!'  
Taliyah moved the stone right, taking them in a new direction. They could not go back in the direction of the Xer'Sai, nor towards Xerath, so going left or right was the only option. Taliyah looked up at Xerath. She grimaced, waiting for him to take another shot. Unluckily though, she did not have to wait long. Xerath fired another blast. Taliyah manoeuvred the stone left, barely dodging it.  
Without any delay, Xerath released another shot, and another, and _another_!

It was as if Xerath was the embodiment of one's life flashing before their eyes. But Taliyah was not going to give up. She focused on her power bestowed by the Great Weaver. She lifted her arms upwards, commanding a giant tunnel of stone to be forged above them as they rushed along the sand.  
Ruby and Ryze stared upwards in awe.

They heard Xerath's energy make impact on the stone, but it did not burn through.

The Xer'Sai followed them through the tunnel: its fin fitting perfectly and not quite scraping the roof.

' _You cannot hide from me!_ ' said a booming voice. ' _Flesh and blood; so fragile! I will show you true power!_ '  
Xerath unleashed his arcane energy, raining a hailstorm of his unending lust for power.

Taliyah mustered all of her power to create another tunnel of stone to protect them from Xerath. It strained her mind to accurately control it, but she did it, phenomenally. The tunnel was pelleted by arcane energy, yet they remerged unharmed.

The Xer'Sai exited the tunnel and shot a third purple missile.

'Incoming!' Ruby yelled.

Taliyah saw it and swerved the stone to the left. But it still hit them. The Xer'Sai was smart and had anticipated their movement…  
They were coated in an ice-cold sensation and a sharp but brief pain, as though they had been stabbed with a few needles.

The Xer'Sai then let out an ear-splitting shriek. It dove and submerged itself entirely beneath the surface for less than a second, before it lunged out at them, completely breaking the surface and revealing its full form. An abomination of a monster, ginormous in size with blue and purple armoured skin. Its claws were outstretched, and its mouth was wide open with teeth big and sharp enough to bite them in two.

Ruby saw it but did not stop to think. She returned Crescent Rose to her back, and activated her Semblance, pulling Ryze and Taliyah away at lightning speed.  
The Xer'Sai's mouth easily consumed the stone, with more than enough room for three more hapless human prey.

Ruby moved them almost fifty metres away, but she could not keep the speed up whilst dragging two people behind her. They all toppled over and rolled along the sand until they came to a stop. All three of them were on the floor, dazed and scarcely remembered that they were caught between Xerath and a Xer'Sai: death on both sides.

Xerath began to channel his energy, whilst the Xer'Sai prowled towards them on all fours.

Ruby and Ryze regained enough strength to be able to stand up, but Taliyah had not. All her energy had gone into concentrating on using her powers.

Ryze retrieved his spellbook and began frantically searching for the Realm Warp rune: their one last chance at survival. 'Where is it, where is it?!' His desperation and panic were betraying his thorough knowledge of the book.

'Hurry up!' Ruby screamed.

'I'm trying!' Ryze yelled back.

Ruby trembled harder than she had ever done before. Was this her end, to die at only fifteen years of age? There was no way that she could fight the Xer'Sai. It was far too big and tough for her to deal with. She could use her Semblance to get away, but she was not able to carry Ryze and Taliyah with her again, and even in that moment where the instincts to survive would normally take over, she was not willing to leave them to die. Either they all survived, or she would die with them…

* * *

Something was rolling fast towards them, from the direction they had been chased. Ruby eyed it, and a trickle of hope found its way into her veins. The spiky creature that had led them to the water earlier that day. It jerked suddenly towards the Xer'Sai and rammed into it, knocking the creature over and creating a giant splash of sand as it hit the ground. The Xer'Sai squealed as the spiky creature began headbutting it with the top of its shell.

Ruby's eyes widened with relief, even with the other threat looming over the ruins. She looked towards Xerath, who was still channelling his power.  
Something however was running towards _him_. Through the sands, a towering figure had its eyes set on Xerath. It had a jackal head on top of a humanlike body, with shoulders that were heavily armoured, and was carrying a massive axe in its right hand.  
The jackal headed man roared and jumped high into the air. He reared its axe before swinging it straight through Xerath's body, catching him off guard.

Xerath exploded in a blast that consumed the whole of the settlement, and the jackal headed man was knocked back with force of a thousand cannons going off at once. He landed hard on his back and skidded across the sand for more than a hundred metres.

Ruby and Ryze covered their ears from the deafening bang. When it ended, they looked both ways. First at where Xerath had been and the jackal headed man, and then the spiky creature fighting the Xer'Sai. It was considerable smaller than the Xer'Sai but had far more defense.  
The Xer'Sai had gotten up and swiped its claws at the creature, but could not break through its shell, and instead ended up prickling itself on its spikes.  
With one last attempt to come out on top, it opened its mouth and bit down on the spiky creature.  
Although smart enough to predict the movement of fleeing pray, it appeared to not be able to realise that this animal was almost impossible to kill with brute force. The Xer'Sai screamed; its mouth bled furiously from being impaled by the armadillo. In a fright, it re-entered the sand and swam away as fast as it could, back where it had come from.

The jackal headed man stood up, clutching his head in dizziness. He was mostly uninjured from the explosion, but it had nonetheless been terribly painful. He stumbled towards the remains of the city, using has axe to support him. 'Xerath! Show yourself!'

He had lived. Xerath rose again from the rubble. ' _Nasus, the loyal pup, ever nipping at my heels!_ '

'Do not try my patience, Xerath! I will stop you, and your tyranny!'

' _All bark and no bite, as usual!_ ' Xerath laughed. ' _This world is mine to conquer, and there is nothing you can do to stop me!_ '

'All things must come to an end, including you!'

' _All things, except_ me.' Xerath said cockily. ' _Azir's pitiful empire ended because he was weak. Renekton's love for you has ended, because he was weak-willed._ '

'Do not speak of my brother!' Nasus bellowed.

' _Remember the last time we fought here? You were lucky that day, and you were blessed today as well, with me being distracted by those weaklings over there. I told you that I would not be the one to kill you, but it would be your brother._ _His madness will be your end, for you will not willingly wound him, but he will have no hesitation to rip your flesh from your bones._ '

Nasus clutched his axe tightly and glared at Xerath.

' _I will let you go, for now._ said Xerath. ' _There is much more that I could be doing than talking to a dog_.'

'Running away, are you?!'

' _Granting you mercy, that's what._ ' Xerath waved tauntingly with his right hand before floating further upwards and flying away.

Nasus bowed his head. How many more times could he let Xerath get away? It would not be long before he'd indeed bring Shurima to its knees.  
He rose up again and turned to see Ruby, Ryze and Taliyah, who was still lying in the sand. Nasus walked over to them.

Ryze stepped forward to meet him.

'Ryze. It's been a long time. Good to see you again.'

'Same to you.' Ryze replied. 'Gotta say that you saved me and these two over here.'

Nasus scrutinised Ruby with calm eyes. He bowed on one knee to get closer to her height. 'My name is Nasus. It is a pleasure to meet you.'

'Umm… thanks, I'm Ruby.' she replied uneasily. Nasus seemed sincere, but he was nonetheless naturally imposing.

He then looked to the sand. 'And the young Taliyah.' She was out cold. 'What is wrong with her?'

'I think she's out of energy, and possibly injured as well.'

Nasus put his cane behind him and picked up Taliyah, cradling her in both of his arms. 'And… is that Rammus over there?'

He looked over at the armadillo, along with Ruby and Ryze.

Rammus simply nodded. Without making a sound, he curled into a ball again and rolled away.

'You all seem exhausted.' Nasus observed. 'Rammus was here, and I think I noticed that the queen, Rek'Sai was here just a moment ago too. Tell me, what have you all been up to?'

Ryze looked up at the evening sky and sighed. 'It's a long story.'


	32. Much in Common

**Chapter 32** – Much in Common

Blake wailed as she was tossed high into the air. It was like falling out of control, but in the opposite direction. The sea went farther and farther away from her, and she went straight through the clouds. Up there, her skin chilled with goosebumps, like ice in a freezer. It was slightly quieter though, quiet enough to hear someone else flying towards her.

'Woah! Waaah!' he screamed.

'Sun!' Blake cried out. She created a shadow of herself beneath her feet, kicked off of it and flew towards Sun. Blake opened her arms just as she collided with him and wrapped them around his waist.

'Oh, hi Blake! Great seeing you here of all places!'

'A pleasure as always!' she shouted, half-jokingly, half-dismissively.

'S-so uh, how do you suppose we'll get down from here?!'

'W-we'll fall! That's how!'

'Nice of you to put it so bluntly!'

Their speed began to decay… until they were at a standstill in mid-air and the wind was no longer blowing at that altitude.

Sun hugged Blake tightly. 'Seriously, whatever you do, don't look down…'

They hung there, motionless for almost five seconds. Blake could not resist though. She averted her eyes from Sun, to the earth below and gulped.

In an instance, the magic of gravity grabbed them by the ankles and tore them down, and screams poured from their mouths.

'Don't you know how cartoon logic works?!' Sun yelled. 'Gravity only exists if you know that you're not standing on anything!'

'Ugh! Shut up!' Blake snapped. 'That's not how it works at all!'

'Even so, it helps to not look down!'

They broke through the clouds again and, even with the wind and the air throwing itself into their eyes and from their height, they could now see what was in store for them below.

'Try and land in a body of water!' Blake suggested.

'You kidding me?! It's a giant stretch of land down there! There probably isn't any water deep enough! We're pancakes for sure!'

'Well then let's head for the sea!'  
Blake pushed Sun away from her, and entered a diagonal nosedive, attempting to rear herself towards the edge of the giant island.

'Wait for me!' Sun did the same and caught up to her. 'Blake, the sea's all the way over there! There's no way we're gonna make it! Even if we did, we'd probably still end up in shallow water!'

'Stop talking and let's just try it! Follow my lead!'  
She created another copy of herself beneath her, kicking herself in the direction of the land's edge.

Sun grabbed Blake's clone by its feet and swung himself back and forth twice before letting go and following Blake: just in time before it disappeared.  
He used his arms to breaststroke his way to Blake's side.  
'It's no use, we're not going to make it!'

Blake looked disheartenedly at the shore. Sun was right; it was still miles away, and the earth was rapidly catching up to them. She scoured the land below her, seeing if they could use anything to potentially save themselves.  
' _Yes!_ ' 'I have an idea! Hold onto me!' she ordered.

'Sure, but what's your plan?!' Sun asked as he placed his arms tightly around her torso.

'The big trees over there!' She reached behind her Gambol Shroud, deployed it into its gun form and held it firmly in her hand.

'Oh, I get it! Nice!'

'Just a bit closer then!'

Blake glued her eyes to the closest tree at the edge of a densely green forest, waiting for just the right second. 'Now!' She pulled the trigger, and threw Gambol Shroud just above a thick branch, whilst holding onto its ribbon.  
The gun and the end of the ribbon successfully wrapped around it, breaking their fall justbefore Blake and Sun hit the ground. They swung forward, their momentum carrying over from their descent to the ground.

Sun was about to cheer, but his eyes widened in alarm and screamed.

'What is it?!' Blake asked, looking at him for a moment too long.

'Watch out for that tre- OW!'

 _ **Splat**_ **.**

* * *

Aching… stinging… a throbbing pain all over, and barely any awareness of what was happening. Blake made an almost inaudible moan. She felt herself gently moving, but not of her own volition. It felt odd, yet she did not open her eyes.

'Prut isinentya dafrol? _(We do what in present?)_

'Faash mikla va'h. Burso juvig tann va'h.' _(They injured are. We with them here stay.)_

'Hi ud ha mi juvig?' _(Him or her me with?)_

'Hi wushimonkzstra Vastaya juvig. Ma pisiclo taybervack. Hi li v'ah, ha la v'ah. Obvifk… _(You the monkey Vastaya with. I cat take. He male is, she female is. Obviously…)_

' _Something indiscernible. What is that? Voices?_ ' Blake's mind subliminally wondered.

'Faash shutal wapot. Pashi?' _(They shoes wear. Why?)_

'Ma brun shi dow. Faash pag xrilla. Burso gvem faash wosepalvzentra, tass. _(I not know. Them let rest. We when they wake up, talk.)_

'Hun, mieli.' _(Okay, my love.)_

'Miella.' _(My love.)_

Blake groaned. It had been so quiet, but now her ears were ringing. Enough was now being registered. She opened her eyes and blinked the bleariness out of them. She was lying on her side, with her left hand tucked underneath the side of her head, and her left leg crossed over her other one. It wasn't a terribly comfortable position to be in, but she felt too stiff and too lethargic to move herself.  
Blake looked to the floor to find herself lying on a mound of soft, red leaves, which brushed gently over her skin. She was in a circular clearing in the forest. The blue sky above her was dazzling.  
Not too far in front of her, someone turned around. Her eyes widened momentarily, and she went towards Blake and sat down in front of her.

Blake had just enough vision to be able to make out her appearance. She had faintly dark, pink hair, which flowed on the left side of her head, and wore a matching pink dress. She also wore a purple hood over her head, with long protruding feathery ears poking through them, also the same colour as her hair. Her face was decorated with makeup on her lips and eyes, as well as a few scars just above her cheeks, and a nose ring in her right nostril. Her legs were wrapped in what looked like black bandages, and her feet were exactly that of a bird, with three rubbery digits. Last, but certainly not least, she had a giant wing of purple and pink feathers on her back, armbands with a few pink-purple feathers tucked in, and a large bird skull with a few orange feathers lay dormant on her right shoulder. It was certainly a bizarre choice of fashion, but Blake was particularly interested in this woman's long ears and bird feet. Just like a Faunus, she was entirely human, in addition to a few animalistic body parts.

'Hi hun v'ah? _(You okay are?)_ she asked.

It seemed like just noise to Blake, but she could tell that this woman was speaking a different language to hers. Completely unsure how to respond, she simply went 'Huh?'

The woman blinked twice. 'Ma tassl hi hun v'ah? Hi ma bifleyah?' _(I said you okay are? You me understand?)_

' _Oh no, I have no idea what she's just said! What do I do?!_ '

'Hi mus tass?' _(You can talk?)_

'I-I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're saying.' Blake said uncomfortably.

'Oh… you don't speak Baraashi, yet you know _human_ language? Huh, that's odd…' the woman said perplexedly.

Blake breathed a sigh of relief. 'Yeah, sorry, I only speak… this.'

'I guess you probably aren't a Lhotan Vastaya. You're more of a cat than a bird. Oh well, there's no problem in that. It's just kinda weird, that's all.'

Blake reached for the top of her head. Only her cat ears and hair. 'What happened?' she asked.

'You took a pretty nasty fall. We were walking through the forest and saw you and your monkey friend swinging through the trees with your unusual weapon thing, and then you hit a tree and just fell – hit the ground hard. I left your thingy by your feet. I have no idea what it is, but it looks interesting.'

Blake was trying to figure out how this woman felt. She looked concerned, but her tone came across as somewhat apathetic. 'Wait, who's "we", and where's Sun?'

'Is that your friend's name: Sun?'

'Yeah.'

'They're over there. Rakan's tending to him.' the woman pointed over Blake's shoulder.

Blake rolled over with difficulty to see a man squatting next to Sun. Sun was still unconscious, and in the same position that Blake had been put into, on top of the same kind of leaves that she had been on. 'Sun! Is he alright?!'

'Don't sweat it, young lady. Your boyfriend's gonna be fine. I can tell he's a tough guy. Probably got some good moves too.'

Rakan was similar to the woman in some ways: a human-looking person, but long feathery ears, birdlike feet and long wing of orange and green tips on his back. His hair was almost white, but garnished with a few red plumes. His chest was bare, but he wore a short red cape on his back, and green shorts, held up by a red rope that weaved through two bird skulls. He also wore a pair of dark armoured pads around his legs. Also like the woman, he had armbands with a few feathers tucked in that matched the ones on his wing, and a small bird skull on his left shoulder, with some feathers that were the colour of the woman's.

'Oh, uh, we're not in a relationship.' Blake said quickly. 'He's more of a companion than anything else.'

Rakan snorted. 'Come off it. Even when you both hit the ground, this lovely man here had his hands still around you. Gotta say that it was really cute. You sure there's nothing going on between you two?'

'Positive, there's nothing.' Blake insisted. She crawled over to Sun and put her right hand delicately on his forehead.

'Well you certainly look worried about him. C'mon, you don't need to hide anything from us. Xayah and I know what it's like in the "getting to know each other" phase. She didn't want to admit it at first, but she just couldn't resist my charms, and here we are now, _literal_ lovebirds.' Rakan chuckled. 'Ain't that right, sweetheart?'

'Yep.' said Xayah. She walked over to Rakan and sat down next to him. 'He's still a bit annoying at times,' She stroked his left cheek. 'but I wouldn't have him any other way.'

'Yeah, and she's a bit too serious and doesn't always have room for fun,' he reciprocated the cheek stroking. 'yet she's still perfect for me.'

Rakan looked at Blake and winked with his right eye.

'Okay, yes. We are kind of… together. We went to a dance with each other recently, and we have hung out a fair bit, but I think he likes me more than I like him.'

'Ahh, you'll get there soon enough. I just know it.' Rakan said assuredly. 'He'd be a fool to let you go, and it'd be a damn shame if you turned him down.'

'Sure…' Blake uttered.

They waited patiently for Sun to finally come around. Xayah and Rakan moved back to give him and Blake some space.  
He rolled onto his back, rubbed his eyes with his hands and looked up to see Blake smiling at him.  
'Oh, hi Blake.'

'Thank goodness you're alright.'

'Aching quite a bit, but otherwise I'm good. Wait, I'm alive and you're alive too. That means we survived!' Sun said merrily.

'Yep, we did somehow.'

'It's because of you! That was some really good thinking you did back there.'

'Thanks.'

'I mean, you could've made sure that we didn't crash into that tree, but overall I'd give you an A+.'

'Hmm, you're welcome.'

Sun slowly eased himself upright into a sitting position, and noticed Xayah and Rakan sitting next to each other a few metres away. 'Who are those guys?' he asked.

'That's Xayah and Rakan. They saw us collide with the tree. They watched over us whilst we were unconscious.'

'Cool, that's nice of them. Thanks.'

'Don't mention it, my man.' said Rakan. 'T'was no trouble at all.'

Blake and Sun's stomachs rumbled.  
'It's been a while since we've eaten, hasn't it?' said Blake.

'Yeah, it has. We only had a few nibbles this morning and we didn't have anything aboard the ship.'

'In that case, I got just the thing for you two.' said Rakan. 'Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back.' He got up and began to run away from them towards the trees. As he went, Blake noticed that Rakan had a long tail of red plumage underneath his wing of feathers.

Xayah moved closer to sit down in front of Blake and Sun, and created circles in the grass with her right index finger. 'So, how long have you two known each other?'

'Less than a year.' Blake answered.

'Hmm, alright.'

'How about you? How long have you been together with Rakan?'

'Few years now. He used to be a performer that would dance at towns and villages in front of an audience. Both humans and Vastaya were mad for him. I was there once at one of his performances. Honestly, at the time I thought people was just overreacting to him. He wasn't bad by any means, but I couldn't quite understand why everyone was screaming and cheering for him. Maybe that's just the kind of person I am though. But Rakan told me that he spotted me amongst the crowd, and despite all the other women showing their passion for him, his eyes fell for the person only giving him a couple of glances. He approached me later and decided to accompany me on my travels.'

'Oh, so you're together?' said Sun. 'I don't know you too at all, but you seem really cute together.

'Xayah gave a faint smile. 'Thanks. I bet you two are really sweet as well.'

Blake wished greatly that Xayah did not push the idea of them being a couple forward, but there wasn't much reason to fight it and insist otherwise. Deep down, she knew that there was something, however small, that enjoyed Sun's company.

'Thanks to you too.' Sun replied cheerfully. 'She still plays hard-to-get, but she'll give in one day.'

Blake grunted and punched Sun lightly in the shoulder. 'Sun, please just be quiet.'

'Heh, see what I mean?' Sun laughed.

'It's okay, Blake. I know exactly how you feel.' said Xayah. 'Rakan was ruffling my feathers for quite a while when we started going out together, but like I said, I wouldn't change anything about him. I don't think he realised what he was getting himself into, by giving up his old career and dedicating himself to my cause, but he's shown no regrets so far.'

' _Her cause?_ ' Blake thought to herself. She opened to mouth to vocalise the question, but was interrupted by a weird sound.

Rakan returned from the trees, juggling four pieces of pinkish fruits and singing what sounded like gibberish. 'Here, catch!'  
He threw one piece of fruit upwards and swung his wing at it. The fruit flew towards Blake; she opened her hands and caught it just in time.  
Rakan then did the same to Sun, who caught his with much more ease.

Blake and Sun both examined their fruits whilst Xayah and Rakan instantly munched their way through theirs.  
It was a particularly large and seemed like a cross between an apple and a peach.

'You two never eaten one of those before?' Xayah asked, noticing that they were observing the fruit rather than eating it.

'Nope.' said Sun. Both he and Blake shook their heads.

'Wow, you've seriously been missing out then.' said Rakan as he sat back down next to Xayah. 'Ionian Shon-Xan fruits of life – the best thing you've ever eaten, well besides chocolate, which is admittedly one of the most stellar things about human food.'

' _Ionian!_ ' They had made it to their destination, but where was everyone else? ' _They can wait though. Let's eat this fruit first._ ' Blake took a small bite out of the fruit, savouring the taste by moving her tongue across the piece in her mouth. It was incredibly juicy and tasted like a mixture of different berries imbued with the sweetness of a sugarcane. Mouth-watering did not adequately describe how delicious it was.

' _Mmm_ , this is really good.' Sun commented.

'It truly is.' Blake agreed.

'Glad you like it. If you didn't, there's definitely something wrong with your taste buds.' said Rakan.

'Are these things hard to come by, or are they quite common?' Sun asked.

'They grow everywhere, even in other regions in Ionia. Even if you've never had the luxury of eating one before, surely you've at least seen the fruit trees it grows on?'

'We haven't, sorry to say…' Blake replied. Both she and Sun could sense that they would soon have some explaining to do.

' _Really?_ ' Rakan exclaimed in disbelief. 'Where have you two been living all your life?'

'…umm.'

'Also noticed that you're both wearing shoes. Xayah thinks I'm crazy for wanting shoes; red ones that is. Had no idea that shoes were fashionable with some Vastaya.'

'They're not.' said Xayah with suspicion crawling into her tone.

'Please forgive me, but may I ask what is a Vastaya?' Blake asked.

Xayah clicked her tongue. 'Are you playing dumb with me?'

'No, really, I'm not. Do you know what a Vastaya is, Sun?'

'Can't say I do.' Sun replied.

Xayah and Rakan exchanged puzzled looks with each other.

'Both of you _are_ Vastaya, aren't you?' Rakan asked. 'You got cat ears, and you've got a monkey tail.' He pointed at Blake's head and Rakan's bottom. 'There's no way you're humans; _that's_ for sure.'

'Yeah, we're not humans.' Blake confirmed. 'But Sun and I aren't Vastaya either.'

'If you're neither human or Vastaya, what are you then?' Xayah asked interrogatively.

'We're Faunus.' Blake answered anxiously.

'Explain to me what Faunus is.' Xayah ordered.

'…basically humans but with some body parts resembling animals.'

'That's exactly what a Vastaya is.' Xayah went on. 'Where do you come from? You're wearing human clothes and you don't speak Baraashi. Is "Faunus" another given name to Vastaya?'

It was Blake and Sun's turn to exchange glances.

'Who's gonna do the explaining? You or me?' Sun asked Blake.

'I'll do it…' said Blake. She readjusted her attention straight at Xayah and Rakan. 'I'm going to be as truthful as I can about this.' she took a deep breath. 'We're from another world.'

Xayah frowned and within a split-second stood up, with three glowing, razor-sharp feathers in her left hand.

Blake and Sun both scrambled back, eying the cold look on Xayah's face.

'Easy, easy there, Xayah.' said Rakan. He stood up and pushed Xayah's hand down to her side. 'Let's listen to what they have to say first.'

'They're aliens. They can't be trusted.' Xayah said venomously. Her eyes were locked firmly on Blake and her neck.

Blake and Sun tensed their muscles. They still ached from the tree, but if they needed to spring into action, they would be ready.

'If they were a threat, they probably would've done something by now. 'C'mon, sit down and let Blake finish.'

'Fine.' Xayah let the blades retract into her sleeves.

'Don't mind her. Xayah can be really paranoid at times.' Rakan said apologetically.

'I'm not paranoid, just cautious.' Xayah said indignantly.

They both sat back down, and Rakan beckoned Blake and Sun to come forward.

Gingerly they shuffled themselves back to Xayah and Rakan.

'Sorry…' Xayah muttered. 'A lot has happened in my life, so I'm always on the alert.'

'It's fine. I'm kind of like that too.' Blake responded.

'I see. Well, forget that ever happened.' said Xayah. 'You were saying that you and Sun are from another world.'

'Yes. An entirely different planet for that matter. You may find it hard to believe, but our planets have been merged together.'

'You're right, I do find it hard.'

'Please, Xayah, we have no reason to be lying to you.' Blake pleaded.

'Even if you didn't, how do two planets get stuck to each other?'

'Did you feel any earthquakes about a week ago? Or have you noticed that each day and night is longer than before? Or even that there are now two moons in the sky a night – one of which being shattered?'

'Hmm…' Xayah murmured and fiddled with her ears.

'She's got a good point. All of that has happened.' Rakan pointed out.

'Alright, Blake. You got me there. I'll take your word for now. Then tell me how and why you came here?'

Blake organised her explanation in her head before speaking. 'After our planets merged together, a few people from Runeterra came to our planet, Remnant, and we met with them. You said that this place is Ionia, By any chance then, have you ever met a man called Shen?'

"Shen…" Xayah rolled the name over in her head.

'Isn't that the guy who was once friends with that lousy shadow ninja?' Rakan speculated.

'Oh yeah… Zed. Pfft, disgusting man. Hope he dies to one of his own blades.'

'Wait a minute, did you say "Zed"?' Sun asked. 'Last night, when we were all sitting together and Shen was telling us about himself, he said that some guy called Zed killed his dad?'

'Yeah, he did.' Blake confirmed.

'Hmm, looks like we're getting somewhere.' said Xayah. 'Okay Blake, tell me more then. I can't really think why he would go all the way over to your planet, but if you know who he is and also know of Zed, then you're easing my suspicions. What happened after you met up with Shen?'

'We also met two other guys from Runeterra. Ryze and Atreus. Do you know who they are?'

'Can't say I do. How about you, Rakan?'

'No clue whatsoever. The world's a big place after all.'

'Never mind, it doesn't matter.' Blake continued. 'When we realised our planets had been merged, we decided that it would be good to learn about each other's worlds. So this morning, Shen, Ryze and the rest of our friends set off on an airship to Runeterra.

'What's an airship?' Rakan asked. 'Some fancy ship made out of air?'

'Oh, um, no it's a ship that flies in the air.' Blake explained.

'Ships sail on water, I'm pretty sure.'

'In Remnant, there are ships which actually fly.'

'Damn, that's some impressive magic. I'm impressed.' Rakan nodded.

'Not really, it's technology.'

'Huh, seriously? That's lame.'

'You said that you came along with friends, Shen and that other guy.' Xayah interjected. 'What happened to them and your ship? And for that matter, how come you two were falling from the sky?'

'I'm not really sure. Ionia was our destination, actually. But just before we got here, a… dragon came out of the sky and destroyed our ship. We got blown up into the air and then we fell. I only managed to save me and Sun by grappling around a tree with my weapon.'

'Dragons? I've never seen a dragon before in Ionia.' Xayah commented.

'We honestly don't know what it was, but I think Ryze mentioned its name. I can't recall what it was though. Can you, Sun?'

'Nope, and we couldn't really see it from the angle we were at. All I remember is that it was pretty terrifying. Uh, not that I was _scared_ scared, but the fact that we almost fell to our deaths afterwards definitely makes it more of a big deal.'

' _That_ , and we don't know where anyone else is.' Blake added. 'Like you said, we only lived because I used those trees to our advantage. But what about the others? They may not have survived. I just can't… bare the idea of losing everyone because of all of this.'  
Blake fought hard to keep emotions in check. The thought of her team being disfigured bodies on the ground made her shake, and a few tears trickled down her cheeks.

Sun put his arm over her shoulders. 'It's okay Blake, I'm sure they're fine.' he said softly. 'Knowing all of them, they're probably fine. Weiss has her awesome glyphs; Yang has her gauntlets, Ruby's got her scythe. They're all Huntsmen and Huntresses, aren't they?'

'If we're being brutally honest, do you think Jaune would've known how to survive a fall from the sky?'

'Umm, _maybe_?' Sun replied hesitantly.

'He's definitely improved since he began to Beacon, but on the day of our initiation, we were launched from these launch pads into the Emerald Forest and we're supposed to use our "own landing strategy", as Professor Ozpin put it. Apparently Jaune was helpless. He only made it with no broken bones because Pyrrha managed to pin him to a tree by his hoodie with her spear.'

'Really? Well I see what you mean. I'm also very worried about Neptune. If he fell into the sea… you know.'

'You see what I mean? We might be the only ones alive, with no way of getting back home…'

'Hey, cheer up Blake.' said Rakan. He shuffled closer to Blake until he was sitting right in front of her. 'Like Sun said, don't assume that they're gone. Think with positivity and confidence; that's the only way to live. If they're alive and well, we'll find them, together. That's a promise from me to you. Okay?'

Blake wiped away the tears from her face. 'Okay. Thank you, Rakan.' she said and gave a faint but earnest smile.

'Great! I can already see it: the unstoppable team of two romantic Vastayan couples! Xayah and Rakan, Blake and Sun! _Nothing_ shall come between us!'

'Okay.' Blake said, unsure of how to respond to Rakan's sudden ebullience.

'Sounds good. I can get behind that.' said Sun with more enthusiasm.

'What a guy! You see, ladies? This is what I'm talking about. You make friends by being friendly. Simple, isn't it?'

'Sure…' Xayah muttered.

'By the way Sun, I've been dying to say this ever since I first laid my eyes on you. You have some _amazing_ abs! I am genuinely impressed.'

Wow, cheers Rakan!' said Sun. 'Yours aren't bad either.'

'My man! It's official: you're the best guy I've ever met. Come here, give me one!' Rakan stood up and gestured with his hands at his chest.

Sun knew exactly what this meant. He got to his feet too, and without saying a word to each other, they bumped their chests together. They laughed, put their arms around each other's shoulders, with Rakan on the left, and Sun on the right and began walking slowly forward together, away from Xayah and Blake.

'I reckon you and I are gonna get along _just_ fine, if not much better!' said Rakan cheerfully.

'I couldn't agree more! Sun concurred.

Xayah watched them and rolled her eyes. 'Ugh, men…'

'Tell me about it.' Blake agreed.

'So, what do we do now?' said Rakan. He and Sun turned back round and went back to the girls. 'Shall we go off and find our new friend's friends? There's no better time than this present daylight.'

'Rakan, these two hit a tree, remember? They should be resting for now.'

'Hm. Blake, Sun, what do you feel like doing right now?'

'I up for doing some searching.' said Sun.

'Me too. We can't afford to sit around, thinking only about ourselves.' Blake nodded.

'That settles it then. C'mon Xayah, let's start our search. It'll also be a good opportunity to show these two Ionia's beauty in all its majesty.'

'Alright, alright. Just don't go too hard on them.'

'They'll be fine. They're tough cookies.'

Xayah and Blake got up – picking up Gambol Shroud as well – and went to stand by Rakan and Sun.

'Which way do we go then?' Rakan brought forth.

'Umm, how about that way?' Xayah pointed to their right.

'Towards the sea?'

'Presumably Blake and Sun came here from across the ocean. It'd be best to start close by.'

'Yeah, sure. That sounds like a plan. Glad I thought of it.'

'Hey, before we go, I just want to say thanks.' Blake said heartfeltly. 'I don't know what we would be doing without you two helping us.'

'Yep, what she said.' Sun agreed.

'No problem. Us Vastaya have got to stick together after all… or whatever you said you were. Faunus?' said Rakan.

'That's the one. Blake confirmed.

They took one last look at the forest clearing before they set off and strolled through the trees. Despite the trees and branches preventing any sunlight from hitting the ground, beautiful green grass and little flowers grew from the soil. Blake and Sun stared in awe at their surroundings, like a child seeing a majestic creature for the first time. Amidst the concern for their friends, Blake and Sun found room for joyous fascination.

'I can tell you're in love.' Rakan said suddenly.

'What do you mean?' Blake asked.

'With the trees that is. Wait until see the rest of Ionia. You're in for a treat – that's for sure.'

* * *

Within only a few minutes they exited the forest, unveiling part of Ionia's landscape in all of its gorgeous splendour. Even more perfectly green grass, with streaks of rose red. The rocks were alive with flowers growing on them, sets of tall trees that were woven by magic into various different shapes. The sky was perfectly blue, with only a few wispy clouds and the sun's light illuminated everything around them into an even more vivid display.

'It's amazing…' Blake sniffed. 'Are there other places in Runeterra like this?'

'Not really. Ionia's unique in that sense.' said Xayah. 'Magic and the spirits are intertwined with nature in Ionia, creating these otherwise unimaginable landscapes. It's a shame though that parts of it have been desecrated by humans over the years.'

'Really? How so?'

'I guess I should probably tell you more about myself. The way I see it, this is _our_ land: the Vastaya's. We were here first and flourished in its magic. But then the humans came and declared it their own. They soiled the land and disrupted the harmony, and their first encounter with the Vastaya began with blind prejudice. I saw how they were treating our people and our land, and I refused to just let it happen. At first I tried to reason with them, but when they first saw me, they immediately turned to thuggery, out of fear and ignorance. They tried to steal my feathers and called in their authoritative figures to have me arrested. Idiots. They got on the wrong side of me, so I stabbed them all with the very things they wanted to take. After I returned to my home, I saw that it had been cursed by shadow magic and my tribe were gone. I was forced to destroy the temple to dispel the magic, but my tribe were still missing, so I left and travelled all across Ionia, destroying human strongholds and instilling feathers into those who blocked my path. They call me unnecessarily violent, but I do it to free our kind from their defilement on Ionia.'

Blake and Sun listened intently. Xayah's story was strongly resonating with them.

'Not all humans are bad; I've seen some good ones, but my tolerance of them was tested when this land was invaded by the Noxians. Noxus is a foul nation driven by imperialism and conquest, and they had the audacity to try and take Ionia for themselves. The only saving grace is how the Ionians, humans at that, fought hard to drive out the Noxians. I'll admit that I have respect for the girl who valiantly led Ionia to victory. And then, of course, I met the love of my life, at the show in the town of Vlonqo. Like I said earlier, I was dismissive at first, but he followed me and saved me from an ambush by a bunch of mercenaries.'

'Wait, when did you tell them about that?' Rakan asked curiously.

'When you went to get those fruits, I told Blake and Sun about how we met.'

'Oh, right. Carry on then.'

'And then he kind of just stuck to me. I didn't want his help, but he insisted that he just wanted some action, and he proved to be very useful in any infiltrations and battles we did. I grew to like him over time, and that's how we're where we are now.'

'You forgot to mention one thing.' said Rakan.

'What is it?'

'The fact that you and I have never been happier.'

Xayah put her hand into Rakan's and they rubbed their heads against each other. 'What about you two then? Got any interesting stories to share about yourselves?' Xayah questioned.

'I'm just a guy, honestly.' said Sun. 'Blake's the one with a richer childhood, right?'

In front of anyone else, Blake would have been disinclined to share her past. She had felt this way even with her own teammates. But learning about Xayah and the Vastaya unlocked a sense of fellowship she had only ever felt with Sun when they had their first cup of tea together in Vale. 'I guess so. In Remnant, humans and Faunus have existed alongside one another for about as long as history recalls. But humans have always treated our species as lesser beings – as nothing more than dirt and slaves at worst. Not too long ago, the Faunus started a revolution in retaliation to the humans' attempts at isolating us to a small continent. In the aftermath of the war, the Faunus were allowed to live alongside humans in the other Kingdoms, but we were still being treated as nothing more than animals. Longstanding cultural ignorance. As a result, the Faunus formed an organisation, known as the "White Fang", which I was pretty much born into. It was meant to unify humans and Faunus together through reasoning, peaceful protests and persistent demands for equality, and I was there from childhood, alongside all the other Faunus. But it all proved to be fruitless. In spite of everything we did, the humans wouldn't let go of their prejudices.'

Now, Xayah and Rakan were listening keenly, bewildered that these species from another planet were undergoing a similar, perhaps even worse, situation.

'Just over five years ago, the White Fang's leader stepped down, and a new one took his place, with a far more radical way of thinking. She viewed the peaceful ideologies of the White Fang to be weak and ineffective. Within only a few weeks of her induction, the White Fang turned to acts of violence: ones that went far beyond what was necessary, but it was working. For the first time ever, humans were regarding Faunus as equals, but out of fear, not respect. It was a difficult decision to make, for many reasons, but I left because I wanted to disassociate myself with an organisation that became a shadow of what it once strived to be. And in the years following, I dedicated my life to become a Huntress and attended an academy designed to train people to fight, slay monsters and defend those around them. Sun is also a Huntsmen, just like me. We met when his academy came to visit mine. And that's about it. Do you have anything else to add, Sun?'

'Not really. I think you've covered it all.'

'Blake, what can I say? It's amazing to think that you and your kind are going through a similar ordeal as ours, and I'm proud that you took an active part in it, but was it the right thing to do, to turn your back on it because of the organisation's violent methods, especially when it was making progress?' said Xayah. 'Sometimes violence _is_ necessary to achieve your goals.'

'It was excessive, Xayah. I can guarantee you that if you saw for yourself what the White Fang were doing, you would understand why I left. It was my decision to make, but don't think that I've given up entirely. I am still fighting to uphold the rights of the Faunus, and to preserve peace wherever I can.'

Xayah nodded. 'Yeah, I understand, and I'll respect your choice. Just remember that, regardless of how you go about it, never stop fighting for what you believe in.'

Blake nodded back. 'Absolutely.'

'This is wonderful! We have so much in common!' Rakan exclaimed cheerfully. 'It's like we were destined to meet each other!'

'It honestly does.' Sun concurred. 'I'm still worried about the rest of our friends, but I don't think we could've found anyone better to run into.'

'My, my Sun. I say goddamn! You see Blake, you are so lucky to have him!'

'I think the same could be said about you.' Sun returned. 'Xayah's incredibly lucky, if not luckier.'

'This man. _This_ man of culture and class!' Rakan put his arm over Sun's shoulders again. 'I just _knew_ we would become good friends!'

* * *

The sound of waves lapsing on the rocks soon encroached on their ears. They approached the sandy shore and looked out towards the sea. On either side of them, there were two smaller islands a few miles off the coast. Even at that distance, they could make out some of the nature residing on its own landscapes, a beautiful view, but also a moment of perturbed realisation.

'You know, it's just dawned on me how much area we might have to search.' Rakan said.

'You were the one who made that promise.' Xayah reminded him.

'Of course. I have no intention of breaking it, but we have a lot of ground to cover, just saying.' Rakan squeezed Xayah's hand. 'Maybe we should split up and search in different places.' he proposed.

'No.' Xayah said adamantly. 'If we do, we'll just complicate things if we want to get back together.'

'Alright, we'll stick together. Where do we go from here then?'

'We'll be systematic. Let's go to Ralin Island.' said Xayah, pointing to the island on their left.

'How are we getting over there?' Blake asked. 'Swimming?'

'Heck no. I ain't ruining my cloak.' Rakan answered. 'Look, there's a boat over there!' Rakan indicated with his left forefinger at a small rowing boat sitting on their sand, about a hundred metres away from them to their left. Rakan dashed towards it, stopping before it and examined the white woodwork. It had four sets of thwarts to sit on, a finely crafted bow and a perfect line of symmetry down the middle. 'This should do.' he said once the other three had caught up. 'It's got two oars, no holes as far as I can see, and there appears to be no spirit in the wood. Gonna assume that whoever made this got permission from the tree.'

'Is it okay to just take it?' Blake questioned.

'I don't see anyone watching over it, and even if someone was, are you gonna let a lack of consent to use a boat stop you from finding your friends?'

'When you put it that way, I guess not.'

'That's what I like to hear.' Rakan beamed. 'Now, let's move it closer to the water.'

The four of them grabbed the sides of the boat and carried it so that half of the boat was in the water and the other half was still on the sand.

'Because I'm a gentleman, I'll row.' Rakan offered ingratiatingly. 'But Sun, I need you to push the boat for me.'

'You got it, boss.'

Rakan sat in the middle and put the oars through the outriggers, facing towards the shore. Blake and Xayah sat together directly behind him, leaving room for Sun at the back of the boat.

'Okay Sun, push on three.' Rakan ordered. 'One. Two. Three!'

Sun kicked his legs against the sand and pushed with his arms until the boat was completely afloat on the water. He then jumped and swung his legs over the stern and sat down in front of Rakan. They winked at each other.

Rakan entered an even rowing stroke, as though he had done it many times before. 'Off we go! Just make sure that I steer towards the island.'

'Got it.' said Xayah.

The smell of a magically imbued sea found their noses. Thankfully the island was not too far away, but the sea's surprisingly pleasant aroma and their own company would make the journey enjoyable. Hopefully it would not be long before Blake and Sun were reunited with at least one or two of their friends.


	33. A Flow of Information

**Chapter 33** – A Flow of Information

Taiyang Xiao Long sat down on the couch in the living room and put his forehead against his palms. Over a week had passed since the Fall of Beacon, and he still had had no contact from anyone. It was the worst feeling for any father: knowing that your own children are potentially in danger and being unable to do anything about it. He waited by the front window, or in the garden every day, refusing to eat or sleep properly. Nothing mattered other than knowing whether or not his two daughters were okay.

He moaned in aggravation. ' _C'mon, c'mon_ , _where are my girls at?!_ _If you're out there, please just come home! I can't lose the pair of you too…_ '

Taiyang picked up the TV remote and pointed it at the sensor bar, on top of the table of three drawers. The projection flickered momentarily before presenting a large screen. The large headline at the bottom read: "Beacon Still Under Quarantine" next to the VBC logo. Taiyang gripped his knees with his hands so tightly that his nails were digging into his skin.

The reporter had a rather monotone voice.  
'The situation at Beacon Academy is still a large mystery. Details have been censored due to what Headmaster Ozpin is describing as "severely unforeseen circumstances". However, it has been hinted at that a certain level of control of the Beacon grounds has been reclaimed. The Atlas Military has finally granted the Vale Police Department assess to the city, which was immediately evacuated following the incident on that tragic night. Reports from the Chief of Police state that there seems to be no remaining signs of Grimm activity, but the city itself is in total ruins. The Vale Council is dubious to say how long it will take to fully repair the city and for citizens to move back into their homes, but everyone from Vale has been forced to take refugee elsewhere. People also living close to the city have been advised to move out by word of General Ironwood and the Atlas Military. More details will be revealed when they are disclosed by those working onsite. A suspension has also been placed on all trade coming in and out of the City of Vale, and will instead be directed to-'

Taiyang fumbled for the remote on the couch with his right hand, pointed it at the screen, and changed the channel. The new headline read: "CCT Repairs Planned", with a sub-headline underneath, which said: "Work has yet to commence due to a "beast'".

This reporter seemed more invested in what she was reading.  
'Although the fail-safes have supported wireless communication within the Kingdom, the loss of the CCT Tower continues to prevent contact with the outside world. The reason for the falling of the tower has been placed on what Headmaster Ozpin has tenuously described as a "winged beast with a giant sword". Talks with Atlas officials regarding any repairs have so far been put aside in favour of aiding-'

Once again, Taiyang changed the channel: this time to the VNN broadcast, with Lisa Lavender reporting, and the caption "WHITE FANG MEMBER, ADAM TAURUS AND RUMOURED SWORD-WIELDING MONSTER PRESENT DURING BEACON GRIMM ATTACK" at the bottom.

'Multiple rumours continue to circulate as to who was behind the attacks at the Vytal Festival Tournament.' A profile image of Adam Taurus was displayed next to Lisa. 'Whilst no one knows for sure, officials have confirmed that high-ranking White Fang member, Adam Taurus was present for the attack. Any and all attempts to bring him into custody have been met with brutal force. His current whereabouts at the moment however are unknown. On a separate note, even more rumours are being spread of a giant monster wielding a sword, which is allegedly responsible for destroying the CCT Tower at Beacon. Although hesitant, Professor Ozpin has declared this to be true, and has advised for everyone to be on the alert, for like with Adam Taurus, its last known location was at Beacon but has subsequently left the school grounds, and no one knows where it is at present. In other news, nefarious criminal, Roman Torchwick, has recently escaped from the Atlas Military's captivity, following the catastrophe at Beacon. Any of his accomplices who engineered his escape are so far unknown. It seems as if-'

Taiyang clicked and turned off the TV. He placed the remote on the coffee table in front of him and sighed. Nothing about the students whatsoever. Any information, any hint would give him a sliver of reassurance.  
Taiyang got up and went to the front door. He jogged to the mailbox and pulled the lid open. A cylindrical brown parcel had been placed inside. Taiyang grabbed it, closed the mailbox lid, and ran back inside the house. He tore off the brown paper and saw that the cardboard cylinder had a lid. Frantically, almost like a child excitedly opening a birthday present, he wrenched it off and peered inside. A squashed, furry face was looking straight back at him.

 _Woof!_

'Zwei?!' Taiyang exclaimed. He shook the cylinder until Zwei popped out and landed on his feet.

Zwei rubbed his body against Taiyang's feet, making barks that were loud, but filled with happiness.

In addition to Zwei, a piece of paper fell out of the parcel, uncurled and floated down. Taiyang caught it in his left hand, just before it hit the ground. He turned it over and saw handwriting. It was neat, but it looked like it had been written on a surface that wasn't exactly flat. He sat back down on the sofa and began to read it.

 _Dear Mr Xiao Long,_

 _I must first apologise for not writing to you sooner, and I hope that you can forgive me, for I have been exceptionally busy over this last week._

 _Now that I have had the chance, I am writing to inform you about the state of your two daughters. I have no doubt that you have been severely worried about them since the public became aware of the attack on Beacon Academy.  
Be rest assured that Yang and Ruby are safe and perfectly fine. I must also praise them for how hard they fought at Beacon during the attack. _

_However, I must also make you aware that you will not being seeing them again for a while. It is hard to fully explain the situation, but I shall try my best. I am sure that you are aware of the presence of a second moon in the sky, and how length of days and nights have increased by a few hours. The reason for this is because Remnant has been merged with another planet. The exact cause is still unknown, but this has resulted in some people travelling from this other planet (known as Runeterra) to Remnant. During the fight at Beacon Academy, three individuals made their debut and fought alongside us to fend off those who were leading the attack. In the aftermath of the Fall of Beacon, one of these gentlemen, Ryze, explained to us that he had come to Remnant for a highly important mission._

 _After some negotiation, Yang, Ruby, their teammates, their other friends, General Ironwood, and even your brother-in-law Qrow all agreed – voluntarily I must stress – to accompany Ryze to Runeterra with the aid of an Atlesian airship and another man from Runeterra who fought with us, and support him in his ongoing mission._

 _I also must highlight that this information I am providing is highly sensitive. The general public has yet to be informed about all of the events that have transpired over this last week; in particular the way Remnant has been stuck to another planet. So, might I ask that you please refrain from divulging this to anyone? I am only telling you because you have the right to know what Yang and Ruby are doing._

 _It is only expected that should be worried for your daughters, but you know as well as I do how formidable they are as Huntresses who are still in training. They are also going in a large group, so they will be able to look out for each other and will also have two people who are native to Runeterra guiding them. It should be an incredible experience for them all to embark on and should sharpen their skills as Huntsmen and Huntresses in ways that few others will have the opportunity of taking._

 _Once again, I apologise for not writing to you sooner. Furthermore, I most also apologise for not seeking your permission before allowing your daughters to go to Runeterra. All I can hope is that you take solace in the precautions that were taken, which I have mentioned above, and the fact that they gave their own wholehearted consent._

 _Best wishes,_

 _Professor Ozpin_

 _P.S. I was told by Doctor Oobleck that your dog is capable of fitting into seemingly impossibly tight spaces, and that you yourself once mailed him to Beacon, along with some canned food. I hope that you were okay with me sending him this way and most of all that he is happy to be back home._

 _P.P.S Although the media and news reports say otherwise. I do not think that Yang attacked an innocent student after her performance during the finals at the Vytal Festival Tournament. It is my firm belief that something else was at play. If it had been up to me, and me alone, I would declare that she is innocent and would not be disqualified._

Taiyang put the letter down on the couch to his left. A cauldron of his thoughts, concerns and emotions were brewing. It was natural for him to be worried. His two precious girls were going to a completely different planet _._ Who could know for sure that they would be fine? What was this winged beast that the news mentioned twice? How long would it be before he actually saw Ruby and Yang again?  
On the other hand though, he was so happy to finally know that they had been fine during the Fall of Beacon. He was also really proud of them for stepping up to such a daunting task, which was to help an alien no less. And last, but not least though…

 _Woof, woof!_  
Zwei climbed onto the sofa and cuddled up next to Taiyang.

…he had his beloved dog back home.

* * *

Jacques Schnee flicked through the pages of a thick hardback book he had taken from the shelf in his study. It was titled "Schnee: The Making of a Modern World". The study and many of the books laid on the shelves were older than him. He was so busy that he seldom had time to even take a look at what the spines said, let alone wipe the dust off of them and actually have a read. Not even the chess board in the middle of the room ever got used. It had pretty much been relegated to decoration.

The Schnee Dust company was in a state of limbo at present. General Ironwood had abruptly gone off on a "highly classified mission" _without_ anyone from the Atlas Military accompanying him, or any equipment: only a single airship. Jacques' own daughter, Winter, had somehow become the General's substitute, and had gone through with his absurd order to put an embargo on all Atlas Dust exports to other Kingdoms. A "precautionary measure" he had worded it in his brief letter to Jacques, until he was sure that Remnant was not going to enter a period of war. It had already cost the company millions of Lien, and to think that Ironwood had declared this whilst he wasn't even in Atlas itself. To top it all off, the sudden extension of the cycle of day and night had put a serious wrench into the long-established system of business working hours.

His blood boiled with anger and disbelief, far more than what was healthy for a coldblooded Schnee. He was so exasperated that he couldn't concentrate on reading and slammed the book down onto his desk. Jacques picked up a glass of water next his ornamental desk lamp and took a sip. The chilled liquid felt soothing: just what he needed to cool down, even if only a little.

When he replaced the glass of water, he glanced at the picture frame the right side of his desk. A portrait of Jacques youngest child, Whitley. His face reminded him of something. He had seen Whitley all year, but had not managed to get through to his middle child, Weiss, once throughout the entire time she had been studying at Beacon. Jacques hoped that cutting off her debit card and allowance money would force her to stop ignoring him, but it didn't work, and now he had no idea where Weiss even was. He had originally planned to go and collect her from Beacon after the fall, but the area had been evacuated immediately, and no one had informed him of where his own daughter was or what was happening with her.

It would do him no good to fret, especially since he couldn't do anything to ameliorate the situation – he had even tried calling her earlier that morning, only to find that her scroll was completely unreachable – but even with his disdain for the Huntsmen lifestyle, he knew how exceptional Weiss was and if she had been evacuated along with everyone else at Beacon, she was almost certainly safe.

There was a knock at the study door.

'Come in.' Jacques barked.

The door was pulled back, and in came Klein Sieben, the Schnee family's amicable and dedicated butler. 'Mr Schnee, sorry to disturb you.' he said politely.

'What is it?'

'A letter for you, Sir.' Klein walked over to Jacques and delicately handed the letter to him. 'Here you go, Sir.'

'Thanks, Klein.'

'Should I leave?'

'No. Stay here in case I need you to follow up on this letter.'

'Yes, Sir.'

Jacques tore the envelope open and unfolded the piece of paper. The handwriting was neat but was written on rather poor-quality paper.

 _Dear Mr Schnee,_

 _I must first apologise for not writing to you sooner, for I have been exceptionally busy over this last week, but I have finally had the chance to send you this overdue letter._

 _I am writing to explain how things stand with your daughter, Weiss. I have no doubt that you have been worried about her ever since the attack on Beacon Academy.  
I am glad to be able to inform you that Weiss is safe and currently in good care. I am also extremely proud of her for the contributions she made when the attack broke out at Beacon. _

_However, I must also somewhat regretfully say that you will still not see her again for a while. The situation is hard to explain, but I will try my best. I am sure that you are aware of the sudden appearance of a second moon in the sky, and how the length of days and nights have increased by a few hours. No doubt it has affected your business. The reason for this is because Remnant has been merged with another planet. The exact cause of this astronomical event is still unknown, but it has resulted in some people travelling from the planet that we have been merged with (known as Runeterra) to Remnant. During the fight at Beacon Academy, three individuals arrived on the scene and fought alongside us against those conducting the attack. Following the Fall of Beacon, one of these gentlemen, Ryze, explained to us that he had travelled to Remnant on a highly important mission._

 _After some negotiation, Weiss, her teammates, her other friends, General Ironwood, and two other individuals – voluntarily I must emphasise – agreed to accompany Ryze to Runeterra to offer him some support._

 _I also must stress that all of the above information is highly sensitive. Many of the events that have taken place over this last week have yet to be announced publicly. Therefore, I must implore you to not speak of these matters with anyone. I am only speaking of it now because you have the right to know where Weiss is._

 _I fully understand that you are concerned about your daughter, but please take solace in knowing how exceptional she is. They are all going in a large group as well, so they will have each other's' backs covered and will not be stumbling aimlessly around Runeterra. It will be an incredible experience for them, which should sharpen their skills as Huntsmen and Huntresses: a privilege that few others will have._

 _Once again, I apologise for not contacting you sooner. I most also fervently apologise for not being granted your permission before allowing Weiss to go to Runeterra. Rest assured though that you can take respite in knowing that Weiss will be using the experience to further develop as both a Huntress and a person. She is both safe and willing to do it._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Professor Ozpin_

Jacques placed the letter on the table and scowled.

'Is something of bother, Mr Schnee?'

'It's about Weiss. Ozpin has written to me, saying that Weiss won't be coming home. She's on a "mission", going somewhere that I am apparently not allowed to speak about. She seems to be going with her teammates and a few adults, but it is still very presumptuous of Ozpin to think that he can just take away my daughter without consulting me first.'

'How concerning. What should I do then?'

'Keep this to yourself, but if you feel inclined, go and tell Whitley that Weiss is still not coming home. If he demands to know why, tell him that you yourself don't know: only that she is still away.'

'Understood. I will be leaving now, Sir.'

Jacques nodded and watched as Klein left the study, closing the door gently behind him. He skim-read the letter before slamming his fist down on it. His plan to have Weiss sing at charity event to raise money had just been flushed down the drain due to ink on one sheet of paper.

* * *

Ghira Belladonna paced up and down and back and forth in his study, with his hands behind his back, grunting and growling nonstop. Over one week since the Beacon's demise, and he had still heard nothing at all about what had happened to his daughter. He only had two slight, _slight_ saving graces. Firstly, he knew that Blake was more than capable of handling herself. The second was that his study was big enough for him to move and burn off some of his stress.

His study was held up by four large pillars, and had shelves of books and folders running all the way around the walls. His desk had stacks of paper on top, and with two large stone vases on the floor on each side, and a pair of green stemmed plants in them. A coffee table was in the centre of the room, accompanied by an armchair and a couch. The most decorative thing about the study was a large painting of a view of Kuo Kuana from the Belladonna household.

The side door was slid open. In came his wife, Kali Belladonna. She was holding a tray in her hands, with a teapot, a small bowl of sugar cubes and two cups on top. 'Hello, Honey.' she said.

Ghira forced a smile. 'Hi, Dear.'

'Ghira, you need to try and relax. It's not good for your blood pressure to keep up all this pacing.'

'Kali, we have no idea where our daughter is. I can't focus on work. I can't even sit still. I just need to let it off somehow, and I'd rather not punch a hole through the wall.'

'Well, I've made us some tea. Please, let's just sit down enjoy it together.'

'Alright, I guess it'll help me feel refreshed.'

Kali placed the tray on the coffee table and poured the tea into both of the cups. They both sat down on the sofa, next to each other, but let the tea cool before drinking it.

'Kali, I know that Blake is a brilliant Huntress, but it's the lack of information about her that's getting to me. Why is it that we've still had no word from anyone after what happened at Beacon?'

'The news said that Beacon was successfully evacuated, but that the area has been quarantined. If she's anywhere at all, I'm sure she's perfectly fine and is probably with her teammates.'

'Maybe so, but… I just want to be sure.' Ghira exhaled.

'They always say that a father is especially protective of his daughters. In some ways, it's probably a good thing that you feel this way.'

'Surely you're worried too though?'

'Of course I am. Don't think for a second that I'm not concerned for Blake. I personally just have faith in her, as well as her friends and teachers.'

They held each other's hands for a few minutes before they placed their lips against the teacups. It was still rather hot, but thankfully they did not burn their tongues, so they put it down again. Just a few more minutes would let it get to the perfect temperature.

The side door was slid open again, this time a household guard came in. 'Sorry to disturb you.' she said.

'No, no. It's absolutely fine.' said Ghira. 'What do you need?'

'Nothing. I'm just here bring you a letter. It arrived here just now and it's addressed to both of you.'

'Ahh, thank you so much.' Ghira got up and took the letter from the guard, whom left promptly afterwards. He ripped the envelope open, and straightened out the letter. 'Why don't we go and read it on the balcony and get some fresh air?'

'A good idea, Ghira.' Kali nodded. She stood up too and they both went outside. Ghira cleared his throat and began to read it out loud.

 _Dear Mr and Mrs Belladonna,_

 _Please accept my apology for not writing to you sooner. I have been exceptionally busy over this last week following the events that occurred at Beacon._

 _I am writing to fill you in on what has happened to your daughter. Undoubtedly, you have been concerned for her ever since the Fall of Beacon Academy.  
I can confirm that she is unscathed, and all is well with her. I also want to commend her for the effort she made to fight for Beacon._

 _However, I must also make you aware that you will not being seeing her again for a while. The situation at present is difficult to explain, but I shall try my best. I am sure that you have seen the second moon in the sky, and now know that the length of each day has been extended by a few hours. The explanation is because Remnant has been merged with another planet. We have yet to identify the exact cause for this extraordinary phenomenon, but because of this, some people from this other planet (known as Runeterra) have already made contact with Remnant. During the fight at Beacon Academy, we were blessed with three men who came and fought with us against those who led the assault on the school. In the aftermath of the Fall of Beacon, one of these gentlemen, Ryze, explained to us that he arrived in Remnant for a mission of great importance._

 _After some negotiation, Blake, her teammates, and friends, General Ironwood of Atlas, and a few others all agreed – voluntarily I must stress – to accompany Ryze to Runeterra with the intention of supporting him in his ongoing mission._

 _I most also specify that this information is highly sensitive. The public will soon be informed of the details of what has happened over this last week, but for now it is being held as too disruptive to deliver this news to them in what are already volatile times. Thus, I beseech you keep this information to yourself. I am only unveiling it to you because you possess the right to know where Blake is._

 _I fully understand that you are anxious for your daughter's safety but let me humbly remind you that Blake is a remarkable Huntress in training. She is going in a large group, who will look out for each other, and will also have people who are native to Runeterra keeping them free of danger. I expect that the experience for Blake and her peers will be both indelible and an amazing opportunity to put her skills as a Huntress to the test._

 _I apologise again for taking too long to write to you. Additionally, I want to say sorry for not reaching out to you for your permission before letting Blake go to Runeterra, but please take comfort in knowing that this will be a challenge that Blake is both willing and worthy to tackle head on._

 _Kind regards,_

 _Professor Ozpin_

Ghira and Kali looked at each other with a mixture of relief and newly found concern.

'Well, at least we know she was okay at Beacon.' said Kali.

'Yes, and I am very proud of her for handling the situation so well, but… going to an entirely different planet. Not only is it unbelievable, but it's also a terrifying prospect.'

'She's not going alone. She's with friends and adults. I'm worried as well, but also excited for her. You and I both know how fun travelling is.'

'But Kali, this is an alien planet. Who's to say what awaits them? At least we already have Remnant mapped out.'

'Ozpin said that they are going with someone who comes from this planet. Surely they will be steered clear of dangers.'

Ghira sighed.

'Be worried for her, but also be happy.'

'I know. I just wish we could've said goodbye to her…'

'Me too.' They hugged and patted each other on the back.

A creaking sound of wood met their ears, coming from above.

'Hmm?' Ghira murmured. He peered up at the roof. He had only seen a tiny bit of it, but something disappeared from the edge of the roof, moving out of sight. 'Who's there?!' Ghira called out.

'Darling, what is it?'

'I saw something up there…'

'On the roof?'

'Yes.'

'It was probably a bird. Don't worry about it.'

'No, it was too big to be a bird.'

'Whatever it was, I'm sure it's nothing to be wary of. How about we go inside and finish having our tea. It's got to be cool enough by now.'

Ghira looked down at Kali and smiled. 'Yes. Let's do that.'

* * *

"MESSAGE END"

Inside an ominous room, lit only by candles, furbished with a few bookshelves, tables, drooping banners of the White Fang logo and a square-red carpet, two Faunus wearing red hoods and black cloaks stood by a table with a TV censor bar that had just been turned off. Both had their hands clapped together.

'Your thoughts?' said the one on the left with a pair of fox ears, which went through his hood.

'Are of great disquietude.' replied the second one on the right, with a fox tail. His voice was quite a bit deeper than the other one. 'Adam Taurus was not efficacious in becoming High Leader of the White Fang. His failed leadership during the attack on Beacon Academy has lost him a lot of popularity. Our plan is not going as desired, so we must continue to comply with High Leader Sienna Khan in the meantime and postpone our advancement on Haven.'

'Understood, brother. But what of Sienna Khan's discovery of this new planet and her epiphany of this "godly dragon"?

'No one at this point can deny this new moon in the sky, or the longer days that we are experiencing, but am naturally sceptical about these claims. For now though, we can only follow her orders to carry out this new "Order of the Star Forger" and pray to this dragon.'

Someone knocked on the door. The two Faunus turned around.  
'Come in.' said the Faunus with the fox tail.

The door opened, and in walked a young girl. She wore a tight, black tunic and short black boots. Her brown hair was tied behind her head in a long ponytail, and her skin was spotted in various places – almost like that of a reptile.

'Perfect timing, sister Ilia.' said the Faunus with the fox ears.

Ilia bowed on her left knee. 'Brother Fennec and Brother Corsac, how may I be of assistance?' she asked courteously.

'Please, stand.' Corsac invited. 'We have some bad news.'

'What is it?' said Ilia.

'Word has finally reached us from the Mistral Brotherhood.' Fennec explained. 'Adam Taurus has not been successful. The attack he led on Beacon Academy was a failure on part of the White Fang. Adam himself was heavily wounded by a man wielding a spear and shield, and his favourability has consequentially diminished. Sienna Khan is still currently the High Leader of the White Fang.'

'How unfortunate…' Ilia sighed.

'Furthermore, we bear even more… interesting news.' said Corsac.

'And what might that be?'

'The only good thing to come out of the Fall of Beacon was the destruction of the CCT Tower, so we now have the luxury of more control over the flow of information. However, this was not executed by the White Fang or any of Adam's affiliates. Sienna Khan described a giant monster, wielding a sword. It supposedly destroyed the Beacon Tower and proved to be unstoppable by multiple people. She received this information from a man that Adam brought into the White Fang's headquarters, Hazel, whom Adam is working with. The beast is apparently frozen in the Beacon grounds.'

'Moreover, Sienna Khan has given us a rather peculiar set of instructions, due to another discovery.' Fennec took over. 'Hazel also declared that Remnant has been merged with another planet.

Ilia's eyes widened.

'Sienna Khan was hesitant to believe it at first, but then she went a bit crazy.' Fennec continued. 'Hazel went on to claim that a little girl with "intricate magic" was the one responsible for the two planets being merged together, and that he had seen her for himself. Sienna did not believe him and came to conclusion that a wrathful god was the one who had done it.'

Corsac took over. 'She went outside and began praying so that she would be spared. Less than a minute later, and an intelligent dragon allegedly descended from the skies and boasted about how _it_ was the cause of the combination of the two planets, and that it had also created every single star in the entire universe. After some continuous begging for mercy, Sienna Khan decided that everyone in the White Fang must take upon the regular practice of worshipping and praying to this dragon. She has also, out of nowhere, legislated that the White Fang will also become known alternatively as the "Order of the Star Forger".

Ilia had listened attentively to Fennec and Corsac's information. 'What does this mean for the future of the Faunus?'

'In addition to our goal of bringing the humans to their knees, it is also our duty now to venerate this dragon. Sienna Khan is aiming to earn its approval in the hopes that it might help us in our movement against the humans.' Corsac explained. 'I am personally unsure of all of this, but in case Sienna is right about this dragon, it is probably within our best interests to do what she says.'

'That's interesting, because it coincides with something that I heard less than an hour ago.' Ilia brought up.

'Hmm? Tell us more, Sister Ilia.' Corsac urged.

'I was spying on the Belladonnas. They read out a letter that they received from Beacon's headmaster. I've recorded it all on my scroll. Should I play it to you?'

'Please do.'

Ilia got out her scroll and opened up the recording. Ghira and Kali Belladonna were both standing on the balcony of their house. Ghira was reading the letter out loud.

The recording ended with Ghira and Kali hugging each other.

'Very intriguing.' Fennec commented. 'So Ozpin knows about this other planet, and some of his students, including Blake, are going there to help a native in a top-secret mission.'

'And what do you think _this_ means for the Faunus and the White Fang?' Ilia asked.

'The way I see it, this most likely does not concern us or the White Fang.' Corsac conjectured. 'If anything, this could be _good_ for us, because we won't have Ozpin's students getting in our way for a while. Adam is aware of what this Star Forger movement is, but I reckon he would like to hear this recording. Please forward it to me, so that I may send it to him.'

'Absolutely, Brother Corsac.' Ilia swiped her scroll and found Corsac's profile.

Corsac pulled out his scroll from underneath his garments and saw the file. 'Very good. Is there anything else you wish to tell us?'

Ilia shook her head. 'No, that is all I came here for, to show you this recording.'

'Well then, until next time, Sister Ilia.'  
Both Corsac and Fennec bowed their heads.

Ilia nodded and left the room, slowly closing the door behind her.

Corsac and Fennec resumed their meditative stance in front of the candlelit table, clasping their hands together again.

'What shall we do now, Brother Corsac?' Fennec asked.

Corsac sighed. 'We pray… to the Star Forger.'


	34. Frigid Frays and Follies

**Chapter 34** – Frigid Frays and Follies

Qrow laid with his eyes firmly shut. Inside, he was undisturbed and unvisited by even a dream. What was going on? Although he was out cold, his body was trembling: fighting something even without the help of Qrow's own instincts. Overtime the trembling became more violent, until his own body shook him awake: albeit barely aware of anything at all and with his eyes still shut. He groaned and reached behind his back with his right hand to grab his flask, but was instead greeted by something that was the complete opposite of comforting. He pulled his hand back and clenched it tightly against his chest with his other hand.

He had stuck it in something cold, _very_ cold. Now Qrow was almost fully aware of himself and that he was shivering. He opened his eyes and sat up, using his hands to support him, once again putting them firmly in the cold.

Snow. He had been laying in it and sank low enough to create a mould of himself. With some difficulty because of how much he was shaking and also how much he ached, he studied his new environment. Snow, nothing but snow all around. Snow in mounds. Snow atop hills and consuming rocks. Snow _everywhere_ …  
The sun was low but mostly concealed behind thick, white clouds. Where the hell was he? What had happened prior to waking up in this tundra?

' _Argh!_ ' Qrow clutched his head. He felt like he was having a brain freeze by simply thinking. Still, he managed to gather a distinct recollection. He had been aboard Ironwood's ship, accompanying him, the students, Ryze and Shen to Runeterra. When they had almost reached their destination, a dragon had shown up and blown the ship apart. After that, he remembered flying through the air, followed by this. How long had he been unconscious?

Considering the sun's position and how gelid this place was, he had possibly been there for quite a few hours, but most likely no more than that, and certainly not overnight. Qrow was positive that he would have froze to death if had been out there for that long. But what was he to do now? Or perhaps more importantly, _where_ should he go?

Qrow had not even taken one step, and already things were looking hopeless. There was no trail he could follow; no apparent way of getting food and water; and no signs of any settlement. What was he to do?  
' _Well… I guess it's better to go somewhere, than nowhere at all. I don't know if I'll run into any dangers, but I know for certain I ain't gonna survive if I just stand here._ ' Qrow thought to himself.

Qrow lifted his right foot out of the snow and took his first step. It sank straight back in.

'Yang?! Ruby?! James?! Ryze?! Anyone?!' he suddenly called out.

Nothing. Not even his own voiced echoed in the open wasteland. 'Great, all on my own…' Qrow reached for his flask, and this time pulled it out of his pocket successfully. He unscrewed the lid and put it to his lips. Both the metal and the contents inside were extremely chilled. Ironically it was almost perfect to have alcohol at that temperature. He finished drinking, leaving half of it for later, and put the flask away. Qrow then breathed on his hands and rubbed them together. He looked around again, scrutinising the distance to see if anything at all gave him a reason to move in any direction over another.

'Ugh. Looks like the sun's my only indicator.' he muttered to himself, trying to stop his teeth from chattering as well. 'Let's see. I'll assume that I'm not in Ionia. In that case, if we went west to get to Ionia, which is apparently on the east side of Runeterra, then I have to be further inland right now. And the sun's really low too. That must be why this place is so damn cold. I guess, logically then I'm either in the north or the south. Still though, that doesn't give me any way of saying which direction I should be heading in… Agh, screw it, I'll just walk towards the sun. Perhaps it'll get me _somewhere_ that's a bit warmer.'

Qrow finally began to make his move. Thankfully he did not have to squint his eyes due to the sun being obscured mostly by clouds, otherwise it would be very tricky to make anything out. Undoubtedly the most difficult thing was going to be simply moving. Even just lifting his feet out of the snow with every step he took was tiresome. He could not afford to expend much energy, but in the harsh climate he was in, this was much easier said than done.

Soon, a light but jaggedly cold wind blew through the plain, bringing in more snowflakes. Qrow looked behind him to his starting point. It was difficult to tell where it had been, because his tracks were being covered up by the fresh layer of snow.

It was not helpful to think about it, but Qrow could not get over how unbelievably freezing it was. He had been to Solitas on numerous occasions, as well as Northern Anima, and it had always been bitingly cold. But those paled in comparison to where he was now. Never before had he wanted to see a fireplace so bad.

It was no good. Although unwise, Qrow could not tolerate walking slowly: he had to keeping moving and warm up. He entered a jog, clumsily lifting his feet out of the snow again and again.

The stretch soon began to ascend, and he found himself running up a small incline, and then back down. Was it working? Qrow's mind could not keep up with his body. He did not know how long he had been running, but it couldn't have been far. Already he felt exhausted. It was no good; without proper winter clothing, his endurance out there was very limited. He gradually slowed down until he was only taking one step every three seconds. His vision was blurry. He had been aiming to run mostly in a straight line, but even that was hard to be sure of.

He stopped to see where he was now, but everything looked the same. What if this place was completely uninhabited? Considering the environment, that was definitely probable. Would anyone willingly choose to live out here?

Qrow plodded forward, up a hill. He was almost ready to resign himself to fate: freezing to death. He reached the top and sank to his knees. 'Gods… have mercy on me…' he murmured. If it wasn't for the inescapable cold, he could have easily fallen asleep right where he was, but he allowed himself half a minute to close his eyes.

When he opened them again, he looked forward, and finally saw something different.

' _Trees. Coniferous ones._ ' and a lot of them, all at the bottom of the hill and for metres around. It would be a stretch to call it a forest, but at least it was more to see than just snow. Beyond the trees stood a shallow, but rather wide mountain, iced with a layer of snow on its peak. Surrounding that were even more mountains, but on a smaller scale. Qrow had to admit that it was a beautiful view. After he finished admiring it, he gently sat and let himself slide down the hill. Once he stopped, he got up again and wiped the snow off his back. He looked up at the trees. They were remarkably tall: not extremely tall but certainly more than just "average height". The snow underneath the tree crowns was thinner. Qrow kicked some of it away out of curiosity and saw that grass was sleeping beneath it. ' _Interesting. I wonder how much of it has never seen the sun. Maybe it doesn't snow all year-round?_ '

Qrow cleared away the snow at the base of the nearest tree and sat down, leaning against the trunk. He took another swig from his flask. He frowned: it was almost empty. If there was one thing that this mission had not provided, for Qrow personally, it was definitely good beverages. Water had been aboard the ship, amongst the supplies, but now Qrow did not even have the luxury of that. He was half tempted to eat the snow, but his survival training reminded him that the process of heating it up in his body would cause further dehydration.

'Maybe I could start a fire.' said Qrow, taking another look up at the trees. They all had branches, but was the wood suitable for burning? It was possible, but the chances weren't particularly high, especially in that temperature and so much snow, which would just melt. That, and he did not have the proper tools to be able to carve a stick into a kindler.

Qrow took deep breaths. ' _Okay, okay. Don't panic._ ' he told himself. ' _Gotta keep it together._ ' It still wasn't evening, but it wouldn't be long before the sun and its warmth left him alone in the dark. 'Perhaps there's some wildlife amongst these trees.' Qrow wondered. 'Seriously, anything will do at this point. I guess I'll just turn int- wait, how the hell did I forget that?!' Qrow snapped at himself.

He transformed and flapped his wings so that he was on the same level as the top of the trees, flew across to the ones which were closer to the mountains, and perched himself on a branch. He caught something in the distance in his left eye. Instantly interested, he returned to his human form so that he could focus on it with both of his eyes.

It was flying through the air, from the left, towards the top of the mountain. A ginormous blue bird that looked like it was made up of ice. It was hard to make out from where he lurked, but it was comparable in size to a Nevermore. Unlike Nevermores however, this bird had a majesty about it, which captivated Qrow. It stretched out its talons and landed on top of the biggest mountain and relaxed its wings at its side. Most likely, it was just resting. Qrow watched it just doing nothing for a few minutes without realising how much time was going by. Only when a particularly strong wind blew at him and the tree, did he remember what he was meant to be doing. He longed to know more about this bird, however there was no telling how dangerous it was. It did answer one question on Qrow's mind though: there was at least some sort of life out there.

He flew back down and took another look at the trees. 'Hmm, I'd rather not tamper with the nature here, but I could probably cut off some of these branches and make some sort of shelter.' Hesitantly, he reached for Harbinger. It was going to be a lot of work to get them all down and then arrange them into a tunnel. ' _The sooner I do it, the sooner it'll be over with._ ' He put his right hand around the handle… but paused.

Something small was scurrying through the snow towards him. It was a round, white, fluffy creature with short horns out of the front of its head, and stubby feet on its underside. Qrow adopted a defensive stance. It stopped less than two metres in front of him and let its tongue fall out of its mouth.  
He was still being cautious, but Qrow let some of his defence slacken: it was adorably cute. He crouched down and smiled at it. 'Hey there, little fella.' he said to it as though it was a domestic cat.

The fluffball made a squeaking sound, which seemed to be a sign of affection and shuffled closer to Qrow. It opened its mouth wider, making an " _ah, ah"_ sound.

'Hmm, sorry pal, I don't have anything for ya. I got nothing to eat myself either, I'm afraid.' Qrow looked away at the mountain. An idea crossed his mind. ' _I wonder how nutritious that thing is._ ' He faced the creature again, and instantly felt something biting him viciously at his conscience. The fluffball was giving him a pouting look of sadness. He was hungry, and he had only thought about it for a few seconds, but he was angry at himself. How could he be so monstrous to even consider that?!  
Still though, Qrow tried not to show it to the creature. It came even closer to him and curled up around his feet. Gingerly, Qrow stroked it with his right hand, and it purred. His pragmatic thinking as a Huntsmen knew that this was not a good use of his time, but his heartfelt side gave him the treat of momentarily putting aside that responsibility. To think that this thing existed in the same world as Aatrox.

Qrow looked up at the mountains again. He could only see part of it from where he was positioned, but the bird was still there. Perhaps it was asleep.

He turned his attention to the direction in which the fluffball had come from and saw, emerging from the snowy wind, another _thing_ scampering towards him. Qrow examined it as it came into focus. The creature was bigger than the white fluffball, but certainly not big. It looked to be some sort of rodent, with orange fur and a tail with a blue tip. Its limbs were long enough to allow it to run on all fours with more ease than the white fluffball, and it had small claws on its toes and fingers. It had a little red nose, rather big black eyes, two small fangs in its mouth and a large pair of wide ears on the side of its head. Most strangely of all though was the birdlike skull that it wore on its head, and the curved bone that it carried in its right paw like a toy. Although it was cute, there was something unsettling about this creature. Nothing evidenced this more than the fluffball, which was now cowering behind the back of Qrow's feet.

The creature began to shake its curved bone and make a chanting sound that was reminiscent of a toddler having fun. Qrow intuitively knew that this was not an animal to be tamed, but he was admittedly fascinated by the wildlife he had seen so far. He decided to stay motionless and not make any sudden movements that might have alarmed the creature.

After about fifteen seconds of continuous chanting, it stopped and looked directly at Qrow's face. 'Ganaloo mo.' It articulated, and pointed at the fluffball with its free hand.

Qrow said nothing, but continued to look back at it.

'Hursh, rao.' it said in a slightly louder voice, and pointed at the fluffball again.

' _Is it ordering me to give it this fluffy thing?_ ' Qrow pondered. ' _Maybe it's more intelligent than it looks. Still though, there's no way I'm doing that. It's just too precious._ ' 'No.' he simply responded.

The animal sniffed and held the bone above its head. 'Shubbanuffa.'

'Look pal, you ain't getting it. Run along and find something else.'

'Vimaga.' The creature began to growl. It bared its fangs and its fur began to turn dark red.

Qrow picked up the fluffball, slowly got up and backed away without taking his eyes off the creature. He subliminally knew that he was putting himself in danger by defending the fluffball – perhaps this was its natural predator – but he would not be able to forgive himself if he let it get eaten. Besides, this animal was still rather small. Even if it was vicious, it would be no match for Qrow and Harbinger, regardless of how cold he felt.

'Grrrr.' The creature moved towards him. Its fur was becoming darker every second, and its eyes were turning white.

Qrow moved backwards even quicker, putting more distance between him and this creature. He put the fluffball on the ground and urged it to leave. 'Run away, while you can!' he hissed.

Suddenly, Qrow heard a thundering roar. He turned around to see three trees on his right being knocked over with tremendous force. The small, orange rodent was gone. In its place was a towering beast, with enormous fangs on its nasty face and arms with huge muscles. It still wore the crown of the smaller orange creature, but all semblance of cuteness had vanished in a heartbeat.  
It slammed the ground with its left paw and returned to all fours.

The impact was so strong that Qrow felt his own legs wobble. He deployed Harbinger into its sword form and held it protectively in front of him.

The beast advanced on him and growled continuously, its eyes never averting from Qrow's head. It did not even look hungry: only anger was being emitted.

Qrow was now amongst the trees. He was hoping that they would be an obstacle for the beast: that its size would put it at a disadvantage, whilst Qrow could easily dash between the trees, even though there was still enough space for it to dart around them.

It plodded around the tree at the perimeter. It was definitely not going to give up.

Qrow would have made a run for it but he wasn't sure how fast or strong it was: it had already smashed three trees.

It made its first direct move. It happened unbelievably fast that Qrow did not see it through the leaves. The creature uprooted the nearest tree on its left and tossed it easily as if it was a javelin straight at Qrow.

Only his quick reflexes enabled him to dive out of the way in time. Branches and twigs broke off and went flying everywhere as they crashed against the surrounding trees.

Qrow rolled onto his back and rubbed his head. The cold was putting a hindering strain on him. He saw the beast charge through the trees. Now, only one flimsy tree stood between them. Qrow also heard a squealing and saw that the fluffball was beside him, burying its face into his shirt.

The beast stood upright, grabbed the tree with both of its paws, and thrust it down with all its might onto Qrow.

'No!' cried out a voice.

Qrow clenched his teeth, scrunched his eyes tightly, and held his sword in front of him, hoping that he could withstand some of the force.

 **SMASH!**

He stayed where he was, assuming that he had been flattened, but to his surprise, he felt fine. He slowly opened his eyes and saw someone standing above his feet, with his back facing him. It was a large man, who was carrying what appeared to be a large door in front of him, and he was pushing it against the tree and the beast. 'Run!' he yelled over his shoulder.

Once Qrow had comprehended what was going on, he jumped to his feet, turned Harbinger into a scythe and manoeuvred left so that he could thrust it into the beast. The tip penetrated its chest. It roared and was stunned long enough for the man wielding the door to punch it in the face and then push the tree down on top of it.  
Qrow raised the scythe and brought it down, aiming for the beast's neck. But he missed.

It shrunk in less than a second. The beast was gone, and the little orange creature was back. It made a shrieking sound and sprinted away as fast as it could, disappearing into the trees.

Qrow panted as he watched the creature flee. He then deactivated Harbinger, put it on his back and turned his attention to the man who had saved him by the skin of his teeth.

The man was tall, muscular and very well-built. He was bald but had an impressively thick moustache. Shockingly, he was completely shirtless, but wore dark trousers, held up by a belt with a large crest of a ram on his chest, a pair of winter boots, fauld armour around his hips, vambraces around his wrists, a single, coated pauldron on his right shoulder, and a pretty necklace with a blue gem. The door that he was carrying was worn, but sturdy looking. It had the same ram on his crest carved on its face, but one of the horns had broken off. 'Are you alright?' he asked concernedly.

Qrow nodded. 'Yeah, just about. Thanks for the save. I appreciate it.'

'It was no trouble at all.' The man smiled. 'Good thing that I came just in time, though. You have the Poro to thank for that.'

'The "Poro"?' Qrow repeated.

'Please, excuse me for a moment.' said the man. He put the door against a tree to his right, walked up to the fluffball and knelt in the snow. 'Little Poro, you had me so worried. Please do not run off like that again. I had to search far for you.' He pulled out some sort of cake from his belt and fed it to the Poro. It devoured the cake in one bite and made a joyful sound. The man then picked up the Poro and rested it on his right shoulder before he returned to Qrow. 'Mother always said to me that big things come in small packages. That is what Poros are to me.' the man grinned.

'It is really cute.' Qrow agreed.

'Pardon me for asking, but what land are you from? Your hair, your clothes and your weapon… we do not see such things in the Freljord.'

'" _Freljord.", huh? At least I've got the name of this place._ ' 'Umm… somewhere far away.' said Qrow. Did this man know what events had transpired a week ago, and would he believe him if he didn't?

'A faraway land, you say. Interesting.'

'It doesn't really matter. Anyway, since you're here, I wonder if you can help me.'

'Help is here. What do you ask for?'

'You see, I don't know how, but I somehow ended up stranded out here. I've been wondering around in the snow for hours and I haven't had anything to eat or drink. I'm actually so glad to have met another person out here. Do you by any chance know where I can get a good meal?'

'I see. In that case, I know just the place for you. Follow me, and I'll show you the way.'

'Thanks, pal.'

'Ahh, but you must be cold and tired, especially after fighting angry Yordle. Allow me to carry you.'

'Hey, thanks, but that's not necessary. I can walk.' Qrow replied.

'It is long way and it is also important to take time to rest.' the man insisted. 'You are safe with me. I promise.'

Qrow was somewhat reluctant. He imagined that it would be embarrassing to be seen being carried like a child, but he definitely had a point. Qrow was exhausted and could not push himself any longer. If this man was demonstrating this much kindness, it would be impolite to refuse. 'Alright, I'll do it. Take me away.' he complied, holding out both his arms in a joking manner.

'Excellent. Hop on then.' the man instructed. He squatted, allowing Qrow to sit on the man's left shoulder. They were so broad that he had quite a lot of sitting room. Qrow also put his right arm around the back of the man's neck to keep himself steady.  
Once he was in position, the man picked up the door by putting his right arms through the two handles on the back. 'Before we go, I must ask: what is your name?'

Qrow was usually hesitant to give his name to complete strangers, but this man's compassion did not call for secrecy: only honesty. 'Name's Qrow. How about you?'

'Qrow, my friend, you can call me Braum.' he replied. 'Oh, and one last thing. Do you have any more questions before we set off?'

Many things about Braum intrigued Qrow. His rather thick yet soothing accent, his outstanding physique, the Poro, the door and the purpose it served (presumably some sort of shield), but instead Qrow asked the one which he was dying to know the most. 'Yeah, I got one: how the _hell_ are you not freezing?'

Braum chuckled. 'Hehe, in the Freljord, we get used to the cold.'

'I'll take your word for it…' Qrow returned in disbelief.

'Now, let's get going.' said Braum. Normally he would have jogged, but was conscious of not making Qrow queasy, so he walked gently.

Qrow looked behind him, back at the mountains. The bird had taken off and was flying away, beyond the mountains. In the frantic struggle with the beast, he had forgot that it was there and wanted to ask about it, but his eyelids began to feel heavy. Perhaps it was better to save his other questions for another time.

* * *

'Qrow, wake up. We are here.'

'Huh.' Qrow murmured and then slowly opened his eyes. He had managed to stay on Braum's shoulder by keeping his arm around the back of his neck and leaning forward. He had not clue how long they had been travelling, but it was now approaching dusk. How Qrow had managed to get any sleep was astonishing.

Braum crouched down to let Qrow jump off.

Now that he was on his own feet again, he took the time to look around. They were definitely in some sort of settlement which was enclosed by a wall of trees. There were houses and buildings on both sides of the wide walkway that they were going through. Each house was standardised with the same materials: white bricks serving as the base, with an extra layer of wood for insulation on each side to form a triangle-shaped structure. Windows had been made by cutting out holes through the bricks and wood, and muntin was used for additional support.

People were walking by as well, wearing fur clothes that only partially covered their bodies. Qrow wondered if this was a cultural fashion choice or a result of limited resources. Some of them were also carrying boxes or pulling sledges with goods on top.

As they went by, some of them waved at Braum. 'Yo, good to see ya, Braum!' called out a middle-aged man with a long goatee.

'Hello again, Irnst!' Braum waved back.

'Aye, it's our hero, Braum! Haven't seen you in a while!' a short woman cried out from three houses away.

'Hello, Adaira!' Braum shouted back.

Qrow looked surprised. 'Say, you seem to be really popular around here.' he remarked.

'It's nothing really.' Braum said modestly. 'Good times in past have brought good friend and allies. Ah, here we are.' They stopped in front of a building, which was longer, wider and taller than the rest in the vicinity. 'This is a, how you say, public house.'

Qrow's eyes widened. 'Really?!'

'Yes. Food and drink will be here. I hope it is okay.'

'No kidding, this should be perfect.'

'Let us go inside then.' Braum pushed the front doors open, and they were greeted with relieving warm air that came from a fireplace on the left side of the room. At last!

The place was held up by beams of wood on the ceiling and four pillars on each corner. A dozen tables with chairs were laid out evenly across the space, but all of them were empty, save for one near the counter, which was surrounded by eight men, who were all roaring with excitement and chanting: "Chug! Chug! Chug!".

'They seem to be having fun.' Qrow commented.

'It is usually so in here.' Braum replied. 'Life is good, no?'

'Depends how you look at it, but I can't say no to a good drink.'

'Maybe we could join in then. They are all so friendly.'  
The two of them walked towards the gathering. Braum placed his shield down and cleared his throat loudly.

Everyone turned around, and they were instantly blanketed in cheers and welcomes.

'Braum! Where ya been all this time?! Feel like it's been ursine years since I last seen ya!'

'If it ain't the buffest man in the Freljord! Welcome back!'

'Hello, everyone!' Braum said merrily.

'Braum! You're just in time! Graggy's going for his biggest one yet!'

'Really?! How much has he had so far?'

'Lost track. C'mon, join us! And I say, you've brought a friend with ya!'

'Hi.' said Qrow awkwardly.

'Pleasure to meet ya! I'm Arge!'

'Qrow.'

'Let's make room for them! And I say, bartender, get these two a cup of ale!'

They all spread out, letting Braum and Qrow squeeze in. Qrow's jaw dropped instantly at the sight on the opposite end of the table.

A man – an _incredibly_ big and fat, yet very muscular man – was standing on the other side of the table. Like Braum he was shirtless, and only wore a very ragged and skimpy blue cloth around his waist and groin, and several rings of rope around each of his arms. He had a large pink nose and an awfully long, thick red beard and moustache, which he kept tied together by three silver rings. He had just finished drinking, wiped his lips with his right arm and let off a disgustingly loud burp.

The crowd cheered. When Qrow saw that Braum was also clapping and the Poro was jumping up and down ecstatically, he decided to join in too.

The man looked over the table and noticed that Braum was there. 'Braum, long time so see!' he shouted, slurring his words.

'Indeed, it has, Gragas!' Braum returned. 'I say though, you are still at it? Surely this is enough.'

'It ain't ever enough! Not 'till I find the perfect pint! For now, I'll keep drinking until there's no ale left in all of Freljord!'

The men on the left side of the circle began to pass around two cups to the new arrivals. Qrow examined the cup. It was very thick and wooden. He had at first expected an actual glass, but realised that was not likely to be the case in a place this freezing. He was eager to drink, but his Huntsman intuition reminded him of an important question: was alcohol, or any food and drink on Runeterra for that matter, safe for him to consume. This was an alien world, after all. He sniffed the contents. It was definitely some kind of beer., and Arge had referred to it as "ale". ' _I guess there's only one way to find out._ ' He was about to bring the cup to his mouth, but then heard he Gragas speak again, in his direction.

'Hey, there's a new face here! Who's that?!' he pointed at Qrow.

'This is Qrow. He has come here from a faraway land.' Braum explained. 'And apparently he likes a good drink too.'

'Oh really?! Is that so?!' said Gragas interrogatively.

'Yep. Drinking's one of the many things I'm good at.' Qrow said proudly.

Gragas laughed loudly. 'In that case Qrow, I challenge you to a drinking competition!'

All eyes turned to Qrow, along with "Ooohs", and suddenly, everyone around the table was bellowing their enthusiasm.

'Go on! Do it, Qrow!'

'Ya can't back down from a challenge! Especially not a drinking competition!'

'Do it! Do it! **Do it! Do it! DO IT! DO IT!** '

Subconsciously, he reckoned that Gragas was not a man to be trifled with, but there was no way he could decline. Peer pressure was impossible to fight. Besides, drinking was one thing in particular he could feel zealous about. 'Alright! I'll do it!' he said loudly.

They all applauded deafeningly, with Arge giving him a firm pat on the back.

'Fetch him a cask!' Gragas ordered.

Half a minute later, two men from the right side of the circle came back with a barrel and placed it down next to Qrow. Everyone else, except Gragas, moved back from the table. It was now their arena.

'Ya might want to take lid off. Then you can scoop it up with the cup.' The man next to Braum advised.

Qrow did so and placed the lip flat on the floor. It sure was a lot of liquid inside, and it appeared very dark in such a huge quantity against the wood. He had to admit that he was anxious, but also electrified and was looking forward to it. He picked up his cup, which he still hadn't drank from, whilst Gragas lifted the cask that was next to him off the floor and raised it to his mouth.

' _Wait, what is he doing?_ ' Qrow thought, noticing that Gragas did not have an actual cup.

Braum was leaning against the wall, with his shield to the right of him and his arms folded. He was also excited, but far more apprehensive than everyone else. If he was being honest, he knew that Qrow was embarking on a fool's errand. They had come to get Qrow fed and hydrated. If he was in charge, the beverage would be goat's milk: something nowhere near as hazardous. 'Good thing you are not doing this, little Poro.' he said, stroking its chin.

The men began the countdown. 'Three, two, one, go!'

Without hesitation, Qrow wolfed down his first cup of ale. He had already decided on his strategy: he would not look at what Gragas was doing, and would just focus on his own game. It was rather strong, but had a pleasant taste that was unlike anything he had drank in Remnant before. Hopefully it would not overwhelm him too soon. He scooped up his first shot from the cask and downed it. This second shot tasted even better than the first, but he did not have time to savour the flavour. He went on to the third and it went down his oesophagus within three seconds.

Already there was so much shouting and cheering. It did not help much for the purposes of concentration, but it certainly amplified the mood.

Qrow took his fourth shot. The second part of his strategy was to focus on a consistent rhythm of scooping up the ale and drinking it. He had his fifth shot, his sixth, and then his seventh. Very potent, but nothing that Qrow could not handle. His eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh shot all went down cleanly.  
All of a sudden he noticed everyone calling out his name.

'C'mon Qrow, faster! Gragas is powering his way through!'

Although he had told himself not to do it, Qrow looked at Gragas and saw that he was indeed drinking straight from the cask nonstop by holding it firmly in his hands so that it would run straight from the pouring hole into his mouth. ' _How?!_ ' He was inhuman; undoubtedly, he had drunk so much more. He stopped only for a moment, just to look at Qrow tauntingly and say: 'I'll drink you under the table, scrub!'

Enraged, Qrow put his cup back into the barrel for his twelfth cupful, submerging his whole hand this time, and hastily brought it back to his lips. He spilt about a quarter of its contents onto his shirt. Qrow was in a panic now, knowing that Gragas was guzzling it all down quicker than what was physically possible for himself. But Qrow's self-control was now almost entirely overridden by the alcohol and his competitive tenacity. He had to keep going. Twenty-five shots, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight. ' _How the hell does he do that?!_ '

The commotion from the crowd kept going on and on. They all knew that it was over: that Gragas was inevitably going to win from the very start, but the foreknowledge did not take away from the intensity of the competition and seeing how committed the two of them were.

Miraculously, Qrow had made it to his thirty-fifth shot, albeit he was only consuming approximately half of the cup each time. He had spilt so much. His balance was now going haywire and he had to sit down to stop himself from falling over. He could barely see straight and had a hard time even putting his cup into the cask. Despite all of this and the impossible odds, he still had some fight left in him. He managed thirty-six, thirty-seven, and thirty-eight shots. Qrow had lost count much earlier on. All subsequent drinks were a blur and from his perspective, he could have reached a hundred, based on how he felt. Every shot made his body more dysfunctional, but simultaneously made his mind more determined.

Never-ending shouting and clapping: the noise rang explosively in his head. He wanted it to stop, but had no idea how to make it do so. Thirty-nine lots of ale, but most of it dribbled out of his mouth. With one last-ditch effort, he scooped up his fortieth cup, and with his hand and arm shaking, slowly moved it to his mouth, and somehow drank it whole.

Qrow clutched his face with his free hand. He had reached his limit. The alcoholic dam burst; Qrow felt it coming up. He opened his mouth and vomited, covering his half of the table in puke. The crowd finally stopped cheering, and gasped in shock. Gragas also stopped drinking and looked over at Qrow in smug satisfaction.  
Qrow then leaned over the table and regurgitated even more ale onto the floor, making loud retching noises. It still had not all come back out, but he was done. The fight was over. Qrow fell off his chair and landed on his right side, in his own puddle of vomit. A few seconds later, he knew no more.

* * *

…

' _Ughhhh._ ' Unending throbbing and head spinning. Uncontrollable gag reflexes. What had happened? Qrow tossed and turned around. He was unaware of anything, but from somewhere he heard something.

'It's good to see you too Braum, but can you explain who he is and why you've brought him here?'

'It all started this morning. Poro runs away, and so I chased it. Then I found it being protected by this man from a vicious Yordle. He and Poro almost got flattened, but I jumped in with my shield to save him. He then attacks the Yordle with his weapon, and it runs away. After that, we talked and I learn that he is from a distant land, in need of rest. So, I take him back to village southwest of Quchar. There, we went to the pub, and Gragas challenges him to drinking competition...'

'I see. Let me guess: he got carried away and had too much?'

'Well, as you can see, he is in a great mess. He fell in his own sick. So, after that, I took him here on my back, in hopes that he may be able to recover. I also hope that I have not made a bad decision by troubling you with him.'

'I've taken away his weapon for now, just in case he does anything with it, but as you know Braum, we are accepting of anyone who wishes to become a part of our tribe. It does no harm to us if he only wants to stay here so long as he can get better. We'll keep a close eye on him though, just in case.'

'Phew, I am relieved that my journey here was not for nothing.'

'Well it's already dark, Braum. Things have been rather dishevelled ever since the days became longer and that second shattered moon appeared. You should stay with us tonight. Maybe you can keep him company.'

'I suppose you are right. That would be good, for me and my Poro.'

'Then it's settled. Now let's check on our guest and give him this. What's his name, by the way?'

'It is Qrow.'

'Qrow, huh. How nice.'

It was all noise to Qrow. He had no idea what any of it meant. All he knew was that he felt absolutely terrible. He had been like this plenty of times before, but it had never been this extreme. It's potency, the amount he had drunk in a short space of time, and the fact that he had done that all on an empty stomach was definitely the reason for it. He somehow found the willpower to open his eyes. For the third time that day, he had woken up to find himself in a new environment. This time, he was in a triangular-prism tent made of grey canvas and held up by a wooden frame. He was lying on top of a soft mat and underneath a blue blanket, in the bottom left side of the tent. At his feet were a pile of a few more blankets. To his right was a small wooden table with a dim lantern on top. He could do without its light, but the warmth was just what he needed.

The tent flap was lifted, and in stepped two people. The person at the back was Braum, who had to duck low, but Qrow did not recognise the person in front. She was a rather beautiful woman, with long, white-silvery hair, large breasts and well-defined legs. Her outfit was also quite revealed. She wore a short dark skirt, and only a pair of leggings that did not even cover her thighs. A long cape flowed behind her, which was attached to a hood that she currently had down. In her gloved hands, she was carrying a steaming bowl. Without even realising it, Qrow was examining her all over: his eyes darting from up, to midway, to down. It hurt his eyes to move them too much, but he did not care in this instance.

Braum and the woman sat down on the rug that was laid out on the floor, with the woman directly in front of his face, and Braum to her right, by Qrow's legs.

'Hello. How are you feeling?' the woman asked.

It took Qrow several seconds to register that she had spoken. 'Woah, uh, you talking to me?' Qrow replied in a stupor.

'Yes.' she confirmed. 'My name's Ashe. I heard that yours is Qrow?'

'It probably is.' Qrow giggled.

'Do you remember what has happened within the last few hours?'

'Umm, maybe. Ugh, my head.' He paused, trying to recall everything that had transpired. 'So, I meet Braum over there. Something happened with a furry animal, then he took me somewhere, and then… I just drank. Don't know exactly when I stopped, but I certainly don't know how I got here.'

'No surprises there. Braum, you might want to give him a reminder.'

'Yes, we were at the public house, and Gragas challenged you to a drinking competition. You had forty drinks! That is a lot. Then you were sick and went out cold, so I have taken you further north to Ashe and her tribe. You will be safe here and have time to get better.'

'Really? No wonder I smell so bad. Well, thanks.' Qrow slurred. 'Probably shouldn't've had that much ale, but it tasted good at least.'

'Anyway, you need to eat. I've had this stew cooked for you, so see if you can handle it.' Ashe put the bowl down right next to Qrow.

Qrow sat up, wincing as he moved his head, and gently picked up the bowl, which was made of stone and had a metal spoon dipped in the stew. He looked at it so that he could see what it was comprised of. The ingredients were all vegetables. Carrots, cabbage, wild mushrooms, celery and thinly sliced onions: all foods that were easily accessible in Remnant. He picked up the spoon and placed in his mouth. All the vegetables were very soft, and the broth was slightly buttery and lightly salted. Overall it was an unusual composition for Remnant's standards, but definitely better than he had expected. 'Nice.' he simply said after two spoonfuls.

'I'm glad you like it.' said Ashe. 'Now, I'm going to leave you here with Braum. Don't go anywhere until I come and see you in the morning again. There are cups of water just outside this tent, which Braum can fetch. Lastly, I've taken your weapon away from you, because you are still a stranger here, and we don't want to take the risk of it being used against us. Is that all clear?'

'Yeah, sure. It's all up here.' Qrow replied, pointing to his head.

'Good. I think that's everything I need to say. Do you have any questions that you want to ask me before I go?'

' _Questions. Just like before Braum and I went to that place._ ' 'Hmm, yeah I gotta few. Like, does _everyone_ in this place not wear winter clothes?'

Ashe chuckled under her breath. She had not expected that sort of question, but it was a topic that amused her. 'It's just how it is here, since getting hold of winter clothing is a bit difficult. "Yay Freljord" is what I always say.'

'You see, like I said: we just get used to it.' Braum laughed.

'Yeah, gotcha.' said Qrow, still in disbelief. 'Just one more thing I wanna know.'

'What is it?' Ashe asked.

'Heh, are you, umm… seeing anyone?'


	35. In the Grasp of Ignorance

**Chapter 35** – In the Grasp of Ignorance

The wind whipping against her face made Weiss' hairs stand on end as if she had been frozen solid. At first, she had been disoriented and even frightened, but now she had reacquired control of her own body. The earth beneath her was getting closer. This was just like initiation at Beacon, but on a much more extreme level. She focused on a point diagonally in front of her, and created a glyph. Her feet made contact and she hopped off of it to soften her momentum. She then conjured a black one, positioning it perfectly for her to land in the centre. Weiss slipped through it, and conjured five more directly beneath her. Each one slowed her fall down progressively, until she was able to land gently on the grass.

Weiss wiped sweat from her brow. It felt good to be on solid ground again. The biggest question though was _what_ ground was she even on. Weiss swept the region she found herself in. Green grass in a rather flat plain, with only eight trees and three bushes in view, and to her right, in the far distance, were the beginnings of grey mountains. It could be considered a rather pretty, but overall dull landscape. This was irrelevant however. Weiss had no idea where she was, or what had happened to the rest of her group. She rubbed her forefinger across arm as she tried to remember.  
' _So, we got up, and went to get one of Ironwood's ships. Then we took off and flew for about seven hours to Ionia. But before we could land, some "dragon" came down and destroyed the ship. I remember my head spinning and at some point recall being able to comprehend that I was in the air. And now, I'm here…_ '

Weiss took deep breaths. ' _Okay Weiss, calm down. Panicking won't do anything good. I've just got to figure out what I should do now._ '  
The trouble was that nothing inclined her one way over the other. What she wanted most was to find someone that she knew. ' _Hmm, maybe I should head for the mountains. If I scale them, I could get a better view of the area._ '  
Walking along the stretch to the mountains was not super comfortable, considering that heels and grass do not mix, but Weiss managed. Fighting in heels was perfectly normal to her, so what did a long stroll mean?

She reached the mountain, all while keeping hold of her composure. All she had to do now was ascend. Thankfully, it was not particularly steep. No glyphs were required here: only Myrtenaster to keep her steady. As she climbed, Weiss let her mind wander and thought back to Beacon Academy. She had only been there for roughly a year, but so much had transpired, and she had had plenty of opportunities to train her skills as a Huntress. Not only that, but it was the first time in her entire life where Weiss had been in a place that she felt like she could call "Home", and with people that she could call "Family". Even though her relationship with her teammates had been rocky at first, Weiss had grown to both love and admire Ruby, Blake and Yang, and this was not even the full extent of her friendship. Team JNPR was a pleasure to be around, she had mingled with people in the years above, and even interacted with students from the other Kingdoms.  
It made her feel melancholic therefore that her home was now no more. Knowing that her time at Beacon had been cut short brought a tear to her eye. She would never forget that fateful night: a perpetual blur of chaos and dishevelled conflict. The volume of screams from the citizens, and the overwhelming number of Grimm all roaring and screeching made her skin crawl. Yet all of this was nothing, absolutely _nothing_ compared to the sudden appearance of Aatrox. His deafening voice still reverberated inside Weiss' head, and the mere thought of his imposing presence and pulsating sword made her quiver. Although Aatrox had not been the one to command the attack on Beacon, he had been the one to finish the job and bring global communication in Remnant to a screeching halt. What astonished her most of all was how a man was able to best him, whereas she, along with her peers, teachers, assistance from Ryze and the same man who defeated Aatrox once before, could not. It was scary to think that she was not only alone in an entirely different world, but in one that could house monsters like Aatrox and superhumans like Pantheon. Who was to say what other ridiculous things she would find in Runeterra?  
In spite of all this though, she sort of felt happier being out here all on her own, rather than being under her father's roof again. It was depressing to think of it in such a way, but even though Aatrox had destroyed her home, at least she was not back in her prison in Atlas.

Weiss reached the top. The wind was a bit stronger up there, and she had to hold her ponytail to stop it from being blown into her face. She gazed at the land. In front of her, she saw that there were even more mountains, although these ones were much higher than the one she stood on. She could not see anything other than the grassy plains behind her and to her right, but on her left, something caught her eye. It was hard to make out, but it looked like a large, city encapsulated in pristine, white walls.

' _Hmm… maybe I should head there._ ' Weiss pondered. ' _Maybe I could find food, water and a place to stay or someone to help me. But… what if it's a hostile place?_ '  
It was certainly a possibility, but it was more likely to that she would find something useful there than in the barren grasslands. 'Well, it's worth a try. Hopefully I won't look too out of place.'

She made her decision, but before she could begin climbing back down the mountain, she noticed something coming into focus. It had come from the direction of the white-walled city and was moving extremely quickly across the ground towards the mountain. Weiss bent her knees and put her hand around Myrtenaster. She took another look at whatever it was that was approaching. Before she knew it, it began rapidly going up the mountain. Weiss leaped out of the way just in time, landing sharply on her back. She winced and then felt something drop gently onto her face. She grabbed it with her left hand. ' _A large blue feather?_ '

Whatever had just rushed past her began to descend downwards. It was a large, blue bird, carrying a fully-grown woman with its talons. The woman was mildly pretty. She was protected with dark armour, a golden helmet and shoulder pads, and a short blue cape on her back. In her left hand, she held an oddly shaped crossbow that was crafted to resemble a bird in flight. Both the woman and the bird eyed Weiss with a mixture of curiosity, caution and concern.

'Are you alright?' the woman asked as her feet made contact with the mountain.

'You startled me, but I'm fine otherwise.' Weiss replied.

'Sorry about that, but what on earth are you doing out here on your own?'

There was a tone in the woman's voice, which suggested that she thought Weiss was girl who was unable to defend herself. It made Weiss want to snap at her, but she restrained the impulse. After all, if they could communicate with each other, she could prove to be a big help. 'I… I'm lost.' Weiss said simply. It was the truth.

The woman looked at Myrtenaster with intrigue. 'Are you a Laurent?' she asked.

'No?' Weiss returned, unsure of what she meant.

'What house do you belong to then? Surely a girl like yourself has no business here in the outskirts.'

' _Oh gosh, what do I say to her?'_ 'Uhh… I'm not from here. I was doing some travelling and I climbed this mountain so that I could get a better view of the area.'

'And where _do_ you come from?' the woman persisted.

' _Ah, crap. I'm sure that some of those guys yesterday mentioned names of places, but I don't remember any besides Ionia. Maybe I should make up a name, or just say Atlas. Hopefully she's not too knowledgeable about Runeterra._ ' Weiss tossed the idea around her head, but she couldn't be silent for too long, so she settled on: 'Atlas.'

'Cannot say I've heard of it.'

'Look, that doesn't matter. I got separated from my group, but right now I just need a place to rest. Do you come from there?' Weiss asked, pointing to the white-walled city.

'Yes. I, along with Valor here,' She pointed to the bird that was carrying her. 'are Demacia's elite ranger-knights. Please forgive me if I sound rude, but it's our duty to ensure that no dangers encroach on our Kingdom's borders. Looking at you so far, you seem to be fairly innocent, barring that rapier of yours. I suppose if you're travelling across Runeterra though, it's good to have a weapon of some sort. In my opinion though, you should rely more on others. When did you lose contact with your group?'

'Some time ago. I was hoping that they'd be in your city over there. Are people just allowed to walk in as they please?'

'Demacia's borders are heavily guarded at all times, and we're on particularly high vigilance currently, because some of our highest-ranking soldiers recently went on an expedition overseas, as well as a recent earthquake, but if you prove to be no threat, they should let you in without too many questions.'

' _An earthquake?! So this place had felt the effects of the two worlds coming together as well…_ ' 'That's good to know. I guess I'll be on my way then.'

'If you're planning on entering Demacia, I think it'd best if I escort you.'

'Thanks, but I can handle myself. Plus, I don't want to occupy you for any longer, since you were probably going somewhere.'

'I insist that I do, because the walk from here to Demacia is longer than it looks, and you won't know your way around the city.'

Weiss sighed. 'Alright, I get your point, and I do need all the help I can get.'

'That settles it then. You need to get on Valor.'

The bird jumped off the woman's shoulders and landed on the floor.

'Wait, you actually want me to ride on this thing's back?' Weiss questioned.

'Don't underestimate his strength. Valor can pick up a deceivingly large amount, can't you Valor?'

Valor made a short screeching noise.

Weiss nodded. It seemed ridiculous, but there wasn't much point in arguing. She eased herself onto Valor. Once she was on, Valor immediately flapped his wings and hovered high enough so that the woman could get beneath them. Valor picked her up and they immediately went flying down the mountain, towards Demacia.

Weiss wasn't sure where she should hold on to. Would Valor mind if she put her arms around his neck? Fortunately, the flight to the walls was made very short by Valor's speed. It had been an intense ride for Weiss, but only for a fleeting moment. Once they had landed and Weiss got off Valor's back, he flew up and left them, going out of sight over the Kingdom's walls. As he went, the woman saluted.

Upclose, the walls were an absolute beauty to behold. Both the height and the white made Weiss' eyes water. To the far right, just outside of the walls, Weiss noticed a statue in the corner of her eye. To say that it was huge was as large of an understatement as the size of the statue itself: it was _enormous_! Even Aatrox looked tiny by comparison. The statue was shaped like a gargoyle and it had the same colour and finesse as the walls of the city, except for the wings and a few other areas across its body which were made out of gold. Whoever had helped contribute to sculpt this deserved just as grand of a medal. Although the figure being depicted was rather goofy looking, the finished product was nothing short of a work of art. Weiss wanted to stop and look at it in more detail, but she found herself being led to the gates with two armoured men stationed outside.

'Ah, Quinn. Back so soon? You had only just left.' the soldier on the left inquired.

'Yeah. Even you two can't finish a scouting mission _that_ quickly.' the right soldier remarked jokingly.

'I wish. But that will have to wait. I met this young girl on my way out of the Kingdom, just a few minutes ago. She's a traveller and needs a place to stay.' Quinn explained.

The two guards looked at each other as if they were communicating telepathically, before returning their attention to Weiss.

'State your name please.' the left soldier ordered.

Hesitantly, she said 'Weiss.'

'And your family name?'

'Schnee.'

'"Schnee". Pretty name. Alright, you may enter.' The two guards pushed the large gates inwards and gestured for them to go in.

'Thank you. Let's go then.' said Quinn.

* * *

Upon taking her first step inside, Weiss was instantly mesmerised by the sight. Virtually every building, all of different sizes, was made of the same, beautiful white stone. Each ones' architecture was an absolute masterpiece, with decals of swords and shields, people whom Weiss did not know, and other creatures that Weiss did not recognise.  
Even on the edge of the city, it was bustling people who were walking about, going in an out of buildings. Weiss noticed that the majority of the people she saw were wearing rather noble-looking attire.

' _Everything seems awfully aristocratic.'_ Weiss thought. 'Where are we heading to exactly?'

'Depends what you're in need of. Are you particularly hungry, thirsty, or do you just need a place to rest?' Quinn questioned.

'I would like to get something to eat, because I'm quite hungry. It's just that… I don't have any money to pay for things.'

'Are you serious? Surely you would be carrying some on your person?'

'Well, my group had all the money and supplies.' Weiss said impromptu. 'What do I do then?'

'You'd be hard pressed to find people giving away stuff for free here in the city centre, but we might as well have a look around and show you some of the landmarks.'

'That would be nice, yes. Are there any more statues like the one outside?'

'What, you mean Galio?'

'The giant one that looked like a gargoyle.'

'There are other statues on Demacia, mostly of former Demacian Kings or notable soldiers, but Galio is one of a kind. Did you like him?'

'Yes, he's wonderful. I wouldn't mind having another look at him at some point.'

Weiss and Quinn continued walking about, going towards different shops to see if anyone could spare some free food, but their search was fruitless. Weiss would have asked to borrow some money from Quinn, but considering that they had only just met this did not feel right. Weiss also made the observation that there were no beggars anywhere to be seen, unlike Mantle. Still though, Weiss continued to be awestruck by Demacia's structures. Many parts of Atlas were comparable to this, but what appeared to be an absence of any sophisticated technology made Demacia even more impressive.

Eventually, they arrived at the Grand Plaza. It was a large space with a finely, chiselled statue in the centre, of four different men standing with their backs against a staff with a big blue crystal at the top. A long stretch of blue had been painted from the statue to the end of the plaza, signifying some sort of walkway. The whole perimeter of the plaza was comprised of thin pillars, with a long roof of the white stone on top. It was all perfect for a painter or a photograph.

' _Wow!_ ' Weiss thought. She walked with her eyes darting from one part of the plaza to the other, whilst paying no real attention to everyone who was around her. She was already moving away from Quinn.

'Hey, Weiss, stay with me!' Quinn called out.

Weiss continued to roam the plaza, her head still in this magical dream. She was almost skipping at that point. She kept going in a straight line, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

'Weiss, watch yourself!' Quinn cried.

Weiss was abruptly snatched back to her senses. She went straight into a woman's back, causing her to drop a pot of flowers that she was holding. It made a loud smashing sound and cracked into fourteen different pieces. The soil splashed over the ground and the little red flowers went limp. The woman turned around and glared as Weiss. 'What do think you're doing?! Watch where you're going!' she said angrily.

'S-sorry. I didn't mean to make you drop it.' Weiss said quickly.

'I paid good money for this. Now it is ruined!' She carried a thick accent that Weiss found slightly difficult to understand.

Weiss backed away, holding her hands out defensively. The last thing she wanted right now was to cause a scene. The woman was sprucely dressed, with long, black tights, a sleeveless, white top over a vest of light armour, and a long red and white cape dangling behind her back from her left shoulder. Her hair was short was dark, but the front had been died pink. She was quite majestic, save for her belligerent demeanour and the rapier, which she carried in a sheath by her left hip.

She strode forward, then grabbed Weiss' hair and pulled down on it. 'You had better go back home and get your mommy to give me a repayment!'

The tug made Weiss' blood boil. 'Hey! Don't touch my hair like that!' She swatted the woman's hand away and shoved her hard on her shoulders. She stumbled back and stepped on the stem of the plant with her right foot and squashing it.

Fumingly, she unsheathed her rapier and pointed the tip straight at Weiss' nose. 'Ugh, you insolent, little girl! I'll have your head for this!

Everyone in the plaza stopped what they were doing and began focusing on the tension being built up between Weiss and the rapier-wielding woman.

Quinn rushed to Weiss' side. 'Easy there, Fiora! She didn't mean to do anything!'

'Keep out of this, Quinn!' the woman barked. 'This brat made me drop my expensive pot, and then had the audacity to shove me hard so that I stepped on the flower and killed it!'

'It was an accident, and you pulled on my hair!' Weiss snapped back. 'You have no right to touch me!'

'Silence, you pest!' Fiora shouted. 'Do not waste your breath; use that dinky little sword of yours to fight me in a duel, so that I may shut you up for good!'

'Don't be ridiculous, Fiora.' said Quinn. 'There's no need for this. We can go and get you another one, can't we Weiss?' But to her surprise, Weiss had pulled out her own rapier and was pointing it directly at Fiora's own. 'No Weiss, don't do this! You don't know what you're up against!' Quinn pleaded.

'Hmph, neither does she.'

Weiss and Fiora glared at each other. Quinn backed away anxiously and joined the big circle of people that gathered around them. There was no stopping them.

'Prepare to die…' said Fiora sinisterly.

' _Wait, what?! We're fighting to the death?!_ _All because of a flower pot?!_ ' Weiss' nerves began to stir. She was more than a formidable huntress, but Quinn was right: Weiss herself had no idea what Fiora was capable of. Runeterra was a home to individuals like Pantheon. Was Fiora in any way like Atreus? Regardless though, Weiss was not going to yield. Her indignation at Fiora's attitude prohibited this.

Without warning, Fiora lunged forward, thrusting her rapier at Weiss' heart. Weiss sidestepped. She could tell where Fiora had been aiming: she was genuinely going for the kill. Fiora quickly pulled her rapier back and impelled it again at Weiss. With perfect timing, Weiss swung Myrtenaster up and parried Fiora's attack. Fiora grunted, which could be heard over the clash of their blades, because the crowd had gone silent.

' _What is wrong with these people?! Is this normal entertainment for them?_ ' Weiss wondered. She took a few steps back, clenching Myrtenaster tightly. She did not want to kill Fiora: only teach her a lesson, but if she forced her hand, then Weiss would not hold back.

Fiora jumped forward again. This time, she aimed for Weiss' stomach. Weiss swung Myrtenaster, deflecting the blade with ease. She then retaliated and hit Fiora right where _she_ had been aiming.

Fiora staggered back and made a brief shout of pain. She clutched the spot where she had been hit. Weiss had poked a hole in her top, and even pierced the armor beneath. A spot of blood was on her hand. 'Huh, not bad, little girl, but let's see how long you can keep this up. _En garde!_ ' She threw herself at Weiss and attacked her with a hail of jabs.

Weiss managed to block the first four, but had been caught off guard by Fiora's ferocity. The remaining six all hit their mark, but Weiss thankfully had an added form of defence, which Fiora did not know about and had no equivalent.  
Fiora drew back her rapier, puzzled. Weiss' body flickered with white light for only a second, however it was long enough for everyone to see it.

' _What?_ ' Fiora thought. ' _What was that around her?_ '

Weiss let a smirk form across her face. With the few precious seconds of not being engaged in combat, she took the information she had gained about Fiora's fighting style so far to determine how she should play the remainder of the battle. ' _She's slightly taller than me, so I should use that to my advantage. I have more areas I can hit. She has less. She's also very aggressive – probably not so good when on the defensive. If I wait for her to attack, I'll make sure that she doesn't hit me again._ '

'Fiora once again dashed at Weiss and thrust her rapier forward. Weiss blocked, however Fiora this time was unphased. Instead of stabbing, she began to swing it. Weiss followed the blade's every movement with her own, but with difficulty. Fiora was swinging ludicrously fast. In the blink of an eye, she suddenly stepped to Weiss' right and continued her attack. Weiss reacted and swung Myrtenaster back. Fiora was now constantly darting around Weiss. She was so fast that it seemed like she was attacking her from all sides at once. Weiss jumped back, but Fiora followed, sticking to Weiss like an angry bee. They exchanged blows, rushing back and forth, left and right, all across the circle at blinding speed. Fiora was fast, much faster than Wiess had expected. She was definitely on par with the agility of professional Huntsmen and Huntresses. She would even give Winter a run for her money.

The problem was that Fiora was the one dictating the fight. Weiss was just about keeping up, but extended combat with a weapon like Myrtenaster, which was better for quick skirmishes, was not her speciality. Although not tired, her precision was faltering. Fiora was alternating between jabs and swings, forcing Weiss to concentrate extra hard on her positioning. She was relentless, not giving Weiss any opportunities to attack.

Fiora herself was rather impressed with Weiss. She had not fought anyone this tenacious and skilled since a masked man wielding a lamppost had come to Demacia. She didn't know what was more impressive: fighting with a lamppost or fighting with heels. ' _Heels probably._ ' But it presented the perfect weakness.

It was against customs, but Weiss was clearly not going to back down. Swiftly, Fiora kicked her right leg. Weiss gasped and flailed her arms to stop herself from falling over, but now she was completely exposed. Fiora swung her rapier up at Weiss' sword hand. Myrtenaster flew out of her grip and landed several metres behind. She then swung down. The tip of the blade ripped through the skin on Weiss' face, just below her right eye, missing it by barely a centimetre. Then, with full force, she thrust the rapier and hit Weiss squarely in the chest. She was sent backwards and landed painfully on her back, sliding across the ground for a few metres.

Weiss' aura was almost gone. Her ears were ringing loudly enough that she could not hear the gasps of shock from the crowd. She felt the cut along her cheekbone, followed by the puncture wound in her chest. Blood was tricking out of both.

'Submit, you have already lost.' said Fiora gloatingly.

Weiss looked over her left right shoulder and saw Myrtenaster lying on the ground. It was just within her reach. She rolled it over to her with her fingers and used it to help her stand up.

'A fighter, to ze bitter end? Too bad that your determination will not help you, you silly little girl.'

'Shut up!' Weiss exploded. She cycled through the chambers in Myrtenaster, selecting the blue Dust. Weiss had intended to win the duel on her own steam with nothing other Myrtenaster and skill. Fiora was too tough though. ' _Time to use the big guns._ '

Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster into the ground. Ice Dust shot across the floor towards Fiora and caught her feet.

'W-what is this?!' she yelled as her feet and legs froze. The ice crawled up her body until only her head was free.

Weiss followed up by summoning nine separate white glyphs around the circle. With Fiora frozen helplessly in the centre, Weiss held out Myrtenaster and commanded the glyphs to shoot large shards of ice Dust. After eighteen consecutive hits, Weiss lunged forward and hit Fiora on her abdomen. She was sent flying into the crowd, where a few Demacians caught her just before she hit the ground.

Weiss stood up straight, all the while panting heavily. Although she was scathed and had to resort use everything she had at her disposal, she had won. Weiss half-expected the crowd to be cheering or applauding, but it was quite the opposite. Instead, everyone was whispering to each other, although not very quietly.

'What just happened? How did she do that?'  
'Who is that girl, and where did she come from?'  
'She defeated the Grand Duellist, Fiora?!'  
'Wait a minute, was that magic?'  
'Is she a… mage?'

The whispers rose to a conversational volume.

Weiss yelped as she felt an excruciatingly sharp pain enter left leg, just below the knee. She fell to her hands and knees, looked down and saw a short arrow halfway through her leg. She then peered in the direction in which it had been shot from and saw Quinn with her crossbow in hand. Quinn had a mixture of sadness and anger on her face. 'Quinn! What was that fore?! Why did you-'

'She's a mage!' A nearby man bellowed. The crowd erupted with tumultuous shouting and vitriolic comments aimed at Weiss.

' _What's going on?! Are they mad at me for winning?_ ' Poor Weiss had no idea what to do. She desperately wanted to turn invisible and run away.

'Alright, alright, make way! Professional mageseekers coming through!'.

A group of people pushed through the crowd and entered the circle. Everyone lowered the voices upon their arrival. A stern looking woman with long blonde hair and armour on her chest and shoulders was leading. Two other armoured middle-aged men followed, with a younger woman bringing up the rear.

'Now, what's all this commotion about?' the leading mageseeker asked.

'That girl's a mage! She defeated Miss Laurent with some sort of ice magic shooting out of these circles!' a woman in the crowd stated loudly.

'Is that so? Where is Miss Laurent?'

'She's over here! We're attending to her!' someone from the crowd shouted.

The group examined Weiss carefully. She looked up at them with confusion and apprehension. ' _Are they the police?_ '

'So, you're a mage, are you?' the leading mageseeker asked austerely.

'N-no. What are you talking about?' Weiss replied.

'Do not play stupid with me, girl. This assembly bears eyewitness to you performing ice magic. There's no point in denying it.'

'Pardon me, Mrs Crownguard, but should we not have an envoy check to see if she actually is a mage?' the young woman in the group interjected.

'That will not be necessary, Cithria. We have enough testimonies, so no further proof is needed. Cadstone, Bakker, cuff her.'

Cadstone brought out a pair of handcuffs made out of the same white stone material as the entire city, linked together by a thick metal chain, whilst Bakker wrestled Weiss' arms behind her back.

'Hey! Get your hands off me!' Weiss yelled.

'Quiet, mage!' Bakker snapped and slapped her hard across the face. Cadstone put the cuffs around her wrists behind her back, and they made her stand up. She shrieked at the pain from the arrow in her leg. Cithria crouched down and gently removed it.

The leading mageseeker picked up Myrtenaster and inspected it briefly. 'Let's get moving, mage. You're in a lot of trouble.' she ordered sternly.

Weiss began to limp, with Cadstone and Bakker both holding on to her. She looked in Quinn's direction again.

Quinn shook her head at her and mouthed 'I'm sorry...'

* * *

Weiss was practically staggering after only a few minutes of being dragged along. Soon, they arrived on an open courtyard, outside a palace. Once again, Demacia's architecture did not fail to strike fascination into Weiss, even in her predicament.

Two guards with white and gold-ridged armour let them enter. The inside of the palace was a splendour too magnificent for words: a wide hallway of white stone, with paintings of various Demacian landscapes in golden frames. Immediately on the left was a large statue of a bearded man with a crown, regal clothes, and a sword raised in his right hand. The name carved in the base of the statue was "King Jarvan I". It was a shame that they could not stop and look around. Weiss was led up a flight of stairs, and along a corridor until they arrived outside a polished door, which was labelled as "Throne Room". A man with a long black ponytail and an even longer spear in his hands was standing guard.

'Good afternoon, Mrs Crownguard.' the soldier greeted.

'A good afternoon to you too, Xin Zhao.' the leading woman replied. 'I have business with His Majesty. Is he currently busy?'

'Not in any way. Please do enter.' Xin Zhao knocked on the door twice before opening it.

The leading mageseeker walked inside, with Cadstone, Bakker, Weiss and Cithria following. The throne room was not particularly big and had the dimensions of a cube. One large window on the right gave a view of the courtyard, with a desk and chair underneath it. At the back of the room, was a large throne, with who was presumably the King of Demacia sitting on top. It was definitely accurate to say that he was old. He wore a white robe, with a blue cape draped down to his knees. To his left stood a fairly young man, brown-haired man wearing decorated brown chest armour and spikey golden pauldrons.

Everyone, bar Weiss, bowed to the King. 'Greetings, Your Majesty.' said the leading mageseeker.

'Hello, Tianna.' the King returned. 'Is something of good fortune or concern?'

'Much concern, to my dismay.' Tianna replied. 'We have brought this girl here, because she was seen performing ice magic in the plaza, against Miss Laurent in a duel, and I thought it best that you decide what her fate should be.'

'"Ice magic?" the King repeated. 'What was the outcome of the duel?'

'Although she is alive, it appears that this girl bested Miss Laurent. However, I suspect that it was only the use of magic which scraped her the victory. This is the weapon that she was wielding.' Tianna explained, and gave Myrtenaster for the King to see.

'Hmm… I see. Does she have anything to say for herself?' All eyed turned to Weiss.

She collected her thoughts, carefully planning what she wanted to say. 'Hello Your, um… Majesty. There's been a huge misunderstanding. I accidently walked into that woman and caused her to drop a flower pot. She then went crazy and said that she would kill me, so I had to defend myself.'

'Public duels aren't advised, but also aren't strictly prohibited either.' said the King. 'The issue at hand is your use of elemental magic. All forms of magic are strictly prohibited in Demacia's borders. Furthermore, you practised offensive magic against a civilian. This is punishable by a life sentence or even death.'

Weiss gasped. 'Wait, you can't do that!'

Tianna hit Weiss on the back of her head. 'You speak when you are spoken to!'

The King cleared his throat. 'Do you have any statements of defense?'

'Yes, actually.' said Weiss. 'What I did back there was _not_ magic.'

'Don't lie!' Tianna said exasperatedly. 'The law-abiding citizens of Demacia do not spread mistruths!'

The King raised his hand. 'Tianna, please. Let her finish and then we will make our verdict.'

'So, as I way saying, what everyone saw back there wasn't actually magic. I use this material called "Dust", which contains properties of elements. I have it contained inside my sword.'

'Apparently you conjured circles to shoot the ice as well. Care to explain that?' Tianna said interrogatively.

' _That's_ part of something called a "Semblance". You wouldn't understand since I'm not from here, but Semblances are like an individual person's superpower.'

'What you're saying is nothing short of magic.' the young man next to the King said.

'Exactly, she is a mage.' Tianna agreed. 'She should be locked up immediately.'

The King stroked his chin. 'What is your name?' he asked.

'Weiss Schnee.'

'Well, Weiss, I'm sorry to say that if you're a mage in Demacian borders, you must be imprisoned. I've made my decision. Take her away to the dungeons and keep her weapon in the Arcane Registry.'

'Of course, Your Majesty. Thank you for your time.' Tianna bowed. 'Time to go to where you belong, mage.'

Cadstone and Bakker picked Weiss off the ground and shoved her in the back out of the door.

* * *

The trek to the dungeons was even more tiresome for Weiss and her leg than it had been from the plaza to the palace. Cithria meanwhile had been ordered by Tianna to deliver Myrtenaster to the Arcane Registry and explain what it was.

Weiss began to feel sick when she was led down the stairs. All of the beauty of Demacia's architecture had been replaced by a ghastly atmosphere, which wasn't inviting in the slightest. The walls were grey and only illuminated partially by a few torches in brackets. Three wardens met with Weiss and the mageseekers. The senior one was quite old: bald with white moustache and goatee. He also wore a full suit of silver armour. The other two were much younger and wore identical suits of silver armour to their superior, but had the addition of helmets and blue capes.

'Mrs Crownguard.' The senior warden saluted her. 'Who is this?'

'This is Weiss Schnee. She is a mage that was seen using ice magic offensively in public. A cell is required for her before she is brought to trial.'

'Understood.' the senior warden nodded. 'Follow me, then.' The dungeon was linear in structure: with one flight of stairs leading to a corridor of cells and so on. As they walked by, Weiss saw how awful some of the prisoners looked. Some of them threw nasty remarks at them as they went by, whilst others were too depressed, weak or malnourished to do anything. They stopped at the second cell in the forth corridor. The Warden fumbled with a keychain until he found the correct key and unlocked the cell door. Cadstone and Bakker removed the cuffs from Weiss.

'In.' the senior warden ordered.

It was against Weiss' nature to let herself be pushed around like this, but she was in no fit state resist, so compliance was the only option. She stepped inside and the door was locked. The mageseekers promptly left, leaving the wardens with Weiss.

One of the two younger wardens retrieved a flask and a sachet from the bag he carried, giving the sachet to his colleague. He stuck his hand through the bars and held the flask out to Weiss. 'Drink it.' he instructed.

Weiss gingerly took the flask from him and unscrewed the lid. The liquid was murky and unclean. 'What is this?' Weiss asked.

'Just drink it: all of it.' the senior warden said.

Weiss took a small sip. It was very gritty and had the flavour of what Weiss imagined mud to be like. 'Eww, yuck.'

'Drink. It. All. If not, we'll force it down your throat. Your choice.' said the warden who had handed her the flask.

She did not trust them in the slightest. It was only her thirst that compelled her to obey. Submissively, Weiss held her nose and drank it until there was not even a single drop left. She gave the flask back to the warden, who checked to see if Weiss had indeed consumed it all.

The other warden then passed the sachet through the bars and gave it to Weiss. 'That's your first meal.' he explained. 'Try and make it last until we come and see you again in a few days time.' Upon finishing his sentence, they immediately turned away from the cell and left.

Weiss sat down against the wall, next to the bars, trying her hardest not to cry. Only by sitting there did she have enough light to be able to see what she was doing. Weiss squeezed the sachet with her fingers. ' _I do not like the feel of that…_ ' Slowly, she untied it and peered inside at the contents, and gagged.

* * *

 _Hi everyone, here is Chapter 35: as always, I hope that you enjoyed. I really wanted this out sooner, but university has dominated my time. I had two write two essays, give a group presentation and even write a whole play plus the commentary for it. I also found that this was one of the hardest Chapters for me to write to date, mainly because of how I had to use language for detail without losing the fluidity of the narration. Showing the fight between Fiora and Weiss was very tricky, and trying to illustrate the setting was also particularly tough. Hopefully I did a decent job though. I used the artwork on Demacia's League Universe page, the Map of Runeterra, and the Lux comic as reference._ _Even though it took longer than I wanted for this Chapter to be finished, I'm glad that I got done for the 25th. I guess you could consider this my Christmas present to you._

Okay, next time, in Chapter 36, we'll be returning to the story arc of Diana and Leona, which has been left hanging since Chapter 17. From the depths of my heart, I give a massive thank you. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays if you celebrate anything else, and wonderful new year. Take care!


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